SALEM, Ore. – Willamette pitchers limited visiting Whitworth to five runs as the Bearcats took both halves of a Northwest Conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday at John Lewis Field.
Willamette (10-8 overall, 8-6 NWC) won the first game 6-2 and the second game 7-3. The Pirates (4-18, 3-8) will try to end a seven-game losing streak in the series finale on Sunday.
Game 1: Willamette 6, Whitworth 2
Justin Miller pitched seven strong innings and the Bearcats broke open the game with four runs in the fifth inning.
Miller and Pirate starting pitcher Hunter Dryden held each opponent hitless through three innings. Whitworth scored first when Jaxsen Sweum scored after the right fielder mishandled Brenden Duncan's single in the fourth inning.
Luke Werkmeister-Martin tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run. Ethan Fischel scored later in the inning on a ground out to give the Bearcats a 2-1 lead.
After Jeff Hoffman led off the bottom of the fifth with a home run, Willamette took advantage of two Whitworth errors to score three more runs.
Trailing 6-1, the Pirates scored their final run in the top of the eighth on JJ Fahnlander's sacrifice fly.
Miller (2-3) allowed one run (unearned) on five hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked one. Matt Pisacane tossed the final two frames and allowed one run.
Dryden (2-3) gave up all six runs, but only three were earned. He allowed only four hits and walked three batters. Hunter Williams threw the final three innings and only allowed one hit.
Sweum went 2-3 for the Bucs.
Game 2: Willamette 7, Whitworth 3
The Bearcats scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break open a close contest.
Jacob Doughty led off the game by reaching second base on an error in left field and he scored the game's first run on a wild pitch.
Werkmeister-Martin led off the bottom with a single and scored on a double play after Willamette loaded the bases with no one out. Layton Wagner added an RBI single later in the inning.
Dryden tied the game in the top of the fourth with his first home run as a Pirate.
The Bearcats scored two in the bottom of the fifth. Werkmeister-Martin had an RBI single in the rally and Ethan Dunham followed with a squeeze bunt that scored Ryan Whithorn.
Sweum hit a home run in the sixth to get the Pirates back within 4-3.
Willamette broke through with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Drew Baskin and Trey Topping each had RBI singles in the rally.
Eric Waldichuck (3-1) was the winning pitcher after allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven batters. Brady Joyner threw two hitless innings of relief to earn his second save.
Dillon McCardle (0-2) started for the Pirates and allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits in 6.2 innings. Gunnar Kuehl gave up three runs in two-thirds of an inning, while Riley Whelan finished up.
