by Jackson Bell | Staff Writer
Whitworth baseball swept the Lewis and Clark Pioneers in a four-game series this weekend, improving their conference record to 9-9.
The Pirates’ wins on Saturday and the first game Sunday moved them to the fourth-place position in the conference standings, tied with Whitman College.
Senior Garrett Hughes led the Pirate offense with nine hits through the four games and five stolen bases.
In the first game on Saturday, the Whitworth lineup went to work quickly in the second inning, beginning to chip away one run at a time, when senior Jordan McGowan batted fellow senior Matthew Nelson in on a sacrifice fly. The Bucs scored again in the third, this time thanks to a single from Joel Condreay, ’18, scoring Hughes.
The Pioneers got on the board in the fifth, but the Pirates answered quickly with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. The Bucs then closed the door for a Pioneer comeback with one more run in each the seventh and the eighth. Whitworth went on to win 5-1.
Starter Hugh Smith, ’19, (3-3) and reliever Darren Crosby, ’19, dominated the Pios’ batting, allowing only seven hits between the two arms and striking out just as many.
The Pioneers scored in the first inning of the second game thanks to a sacrifice by Connor Eggleston which scored Cooper Larson, but the Pirates immediately answered back by scoring three in the bottom of the inning.
After one more run scored in the third by the Pirates, the Pioneers tied it up at four runs in the top of the fourth thanks to a double by Matthew Donovan to score Ryan Ericksen and a sacrifice ground out by Chandler Vieira, allowing Ben Beck to score. In the bottom of the inning, the Bucs took the lead again thanks to a solo home run by senior Ryan Bird.
The game then went scoreless until the bottom of the eighth when Nelson singled to right field, driving in Condreay and Bird.
Starting the game on the mound, Ryan Kingma, ’19, threw for three and two-thirds innings giving up the Pioneers only four runs. Credited with the win, Matthew Pulliam, ’19, improved his record to 1-0 in the 7-4 win, and pitched for the next three and a third innings before TJ Orchard, ’17, took over. Orchard was quickly removed after giving up two hits and a walk, allowing Kelly Fitzpatrick, ’17, to take over and finish the game, earning his fourth save.
The Bucs dominated the first game on Sunday. By out-hitting the Pioneers 15-5, the Pirates were able to score nine runs on pitchers Robert Reaser and Nat Richman.
Going into the fifth inning, the game was tied up at one run apiece, when senior Jacob Yamane took a ball out over the left field fence, starting what would be a five-run Whitworth inning. The Pirates continued to hit well, scoring two more in the sixth and one in the seventh.
From the mound, the freshman Matthew Young pitched a nearly complete game, allowing only four hits and striking eight batters out. His records improves to 4-2 after the 9-2 victory over the Pios.
In the last game of the weekend, a non-conference game, the Pirates once again came out of the gate swinging. The Bucs lineup scored five runs in the first inning thanks to hits from a plethora of Whitworth hitters. Freshman Cody Simmons finalized the rally with a two RBI double to deep left-center field.
The Pioneers didn’t earn a run until the fifth inning when Sean Shepherd hit a home run, earning three RBIs. The Pirates replied in the bottom of the inning, scoring two more of their own on a single by Simmons and a double from freshman Jake Desidorio.
Brady Simmelink, ’18, earned the 10-5 win after giving up seven hits and three earned runs, improving his record to 3-0. The game was finished up by three more Whitworth pitchers, senior JD Page, junior Taylor Hillmick and freshman Collin Anderson.
The Pirates will take on the Linfield Wildcats on the road next weekend, April 8 and 9.