by Sasha Siclait
Nearing the end of the season, the Whitworth baseball team played last weekend in Walla Walla, Wash., beating Whitman twice Saturday before losing Sunday.
Whitman opened up the scoring in game one with a run in the bottom of the first inning and again another two runs in the bottom of the third to build a 3-0 lead.
“In game one we gave up an early lead, but it didn’t affect our composure or drive from an offensive standpoint,” head coach Dan Ramsay said. “Our guys just kept playing regardless of what the scoreboard said.”
Whitworth put up their first run in the top of the fifth when junior designated hitter Danny Jordan homered to left field.
“Danny Jordan had a really good day and he was DH [designated hitter] both games,” sophomore pitcher Dan Scheibe said. “He hit a homerun in the first game and that got us [the team] pretty pumped up.
Scheibe threw a complete game for the Bucs on Saturday, had 10 strikeouts and now has a 4-3 record for the season.
“Dan Scheibe had a great performance on the mound during game one,” Ramsay said. “Once he settled in, they couldn’t touch him.”
In the top of the fourth inning Whitworth scored an unearned run and freshman second baseman Jeremy Druffel, freshman right fielder Blake Thoren and Jordan each tallied one RBI. The Bucs in total put up four runs for the inning and led 5-3 in the top of the fourth.
“I think that when we got down we didn’t freak out, and we trusted ourselves and the plan and we had the ability to score runs when needed,” sophomore catcher Josh Davis said. “ We were pretty calm throughout the game and we had a great time, had fun and played for each other.”
The Pirates scored their last three runs in the top of the ninth inning and claimed an 8-3 win in the first game.
Both teams scored a run in game two in the first inning, and again Jordan put up the first run for the Bucs with a RBI single to right field.
The Bucs rose to the occasion in the top of the second inning though after an unearned run and a triple by Druffel down the right field line for three RBIs and a 5-3 lead. Druffel has a season batting average of .349.
“Jeremy Druffel had a bases clearing triple in the second game that really kept the momentum in our favor,” Ramsay said.
And the momentum only increased from there as the Bucs scored six more runs just halfway through the game in the top of the fifth. Both Druffel and freshman center fielder Jordan Pearson each chalked up two RBIs scoring four of their six runs that inning. The Bucs led 12-3 in the fifth inning.
“We were really hitting the ball well today and when we’re putting up a lot of runs it’s a lot easier for everything to work together,” Scheibe said.
Whitman wasn’t able to get another score on the board until the bottom of the eighth inning when they scored five runs, but weren’t able to make up the deficit. Whitworth swept Whitman on Saturday and won game two 13-9.
“I feel like this is the first time of the year that we’ve played our potential,” Davis said. “I feel like we’ve come together as a team and are looking forward to what we can produce next year.”
Sunday was a different ballgame for the Bucs as they didn’t get any hits until the top of the third inning. Whitman took off in the bottom of the second inning after scoring six runs and leading 6-0.
Whitman didn’t score again until the bottom of the fifth inning when they put up two more runs, but Whitworth was left empty handed still unable to get any runs on the board.
Sophomore pitcher Carson Blumenthal pitch three innings for the Pirates and had four strikeouts. Whitworth had another three pitchers for the game, junior Taylor Isadore, sophomore Spencer Ansett and junior Jason Renner who each had one strikeout.
The Bucs were shutout on Sunday afternoon, and lost to Whitman 9-0.
The baseball team will be playing their last games of the season in Lewiston, Idaho against Linfield, Pacific Lutheran and Lewis-Clark State May 4 and 5.
Contact Sasha Siclait at ssiclait16@my.whitworth.edu