Whitworth wins twice, advances to Montclair Regional final round | College baseball roundup
May 16-MONTCLAIR, N.J. - Whitworth's baseball team hadn't won multiple games at an NCAA Division III Regional in 14 years. The Pirates snapped that streak in one day.
Whitworth is moving on to the final round of the Montclair Regional after collecting two wins Saturday. The third-seeded Pirates slugged past fourth-seeded Husson University 15-10 in a loser-out game, then prevailed in a rematch against second-seeded host Montclair State, capping one of the most memorable days in Whitworth program history with a 7-1 victory Saturday evening at Yogi Berra Stadium.
The Pirates (30-15) fell to the loser's bracket after dropping their opener Friday against Montclair State (31-11), but Whitworth built an early lead in the teams' second matchup of the weekend and preserved it behind a stellar start from AJ Woodward, advancing to take on top-seeded Endicott College (37-9) at 8 a.m. Sunday. Because Endicott is 2-0 at the Regional, Whitworth will need to win the morning game and beat the Gulls again later Sunday to move on to the Super Regional.
Woodward (2-1) was making just his third start (and fifth appearance) of the season, but he pitched like an ace, giving up one run on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts over seven innings. Montclair State opened the bottom of the first inning with a walk and an RBI double, but couldn't manage much against the senior right-hander after that.
Woodward sat the Red Hawks down in order in three innings, and only one Montclair State baserunner advanced to second against him after the first inning.
The Pirates' offense answered in the third, loading the bases with no outs on a pair of singles and a plunked batter. Spencer Shipman drew an RBI walk and Carson Coffield plated another runner with a groundout, then West Valley's Caleb Gray hammered a three-run homer deep to center field to put Whitworth up 5-1. Ty Komoda, who had led off the inning, added an RBI single four batters later.
Whitworth's Austin Paul created the final score with a solo homer just over the right-field wall in the sixth inning.
The Pirates also got a few defensive highlights to back Woodward. Center fielder Dominic Giusti laid out off a dead sprint to make a catch and prevent extra bases in the bottom of the third. Paul covered a long distance and dove to make a catch in the shallow outfield in the eighth.
The Red Hawks loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Pirates closer Seth Mahler escaped the jam unscathed.
Gray, Komoda and Paul had two hits apiece for Whitworth, which outhit Montclair State 10-7 a day after surrendering 15 hits in a 10-5 loss to the Red Hawks.
Against Husson, the Pirates raced out to a 6-0 lead in the third inning, but gave up six runs in the fourth. Whitworth broke the tie with a four-run fifth. The Eagles (24-18) cut it to 10-8 in the sixth, then the Pirates pulled away with a five-hit, four-run seventh.
Whitworth produced 17 hits and eight walks in Saturday's opener, getting a solo homer from Shipman and doubles from Yash Gupta, Komoda and Giusti - the latter two combined to go 7-for-7. Komoda drove in five and Giusti scored five runs.
Pirates starter Dylan Huntsman gave up six runs on six hits with two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. Relievers Rylen Blair (1-0) and Tyler Disch combined for 3 1/3 no-hit innings, but Blair walked three batters and plunked two, surrendering two runs.
The win over Husson was the Pirates' first Regional victory since 2016, when Whitworth beat Case Western Reserve 8-5 at Avista Stadium in Spokane. The last time the Pirates won multiple games in a Regional was in 2012, when they captured the McMinnville (Oregon) Regional crown and advanced to their first D-III World Series.
GU caps regular season with sweep
In its final regular-season game as a West Coast Conference member, Gonzaga won a high-scoring thriller and finished with the most WCC victories by any team since 2003.
The Zags completed a home sweep of Seattle U, clubbing their way to a 16-13 win at Patterson Baseball Complex.
GU (35-17, 22-5 WCC) closed the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. The Bulldogs finished 15-3 at home in their final season before they join the revamped Pac-12. They claimed the WCC regular-season title by seven games, winning more games than any WCC team since Pepperdine's 23 in 2003, and have plenty of momentum heading into the WCC Tournament, which begins Wednesday at Scottsdale Stadium in Arizona.
Trailing 5-4, GU opened the bottom of the fifth with a single from Maddox Haley and a two-run homer from Noah Meffert. After a strikeout, Jacob Wrubleski drew a walk and Tommy Eisenstat followed with another two-run shot. With two outs in the frame, Mikey Bell launched a two-run homer to left field, putting GU ahead 10-5.
Wrubleski extended the lead to 11-5 with an RBI double in the sixth, but Seattle U (18-31, 11-16) rallied to within one run with a five-run seventh, then tied it on Brandon Stinnett's solo shot in the eighth. The Bulldogs broke free for good with a five-run eighth - Bell, the Zags' star third baseman, capped his five-hit, six-RBI afternoon with a two-run double during the inning. Bell's five hits tied for a single-game program record, a mark he has reached three times this year.
GU recorded 17 hits, including seven for extra bases. The Redhawks tallied 11 hits with three homers.
It was a bullpen game for the Zags, who gave Garrett Gores his third start of the year. He allowed two runs on one hit and two walks with three strikeouts over three innings. Three GU relievers surrendered at least three runs apiece.
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