Whitworth 6, Washington & Lee 5 - Complete box score PEORIA, Ariz. - By cutting down on the errors and walks, Whitworth won twice on Saturday to walk away with the championship of the Peoria College Baseball Tournament by defeating Washington & Lee (Va.) 6-5 in the semifinal and Hastings (Neb.) 15-4 in the championship. After going 0-3 in the round-robin half of the tournament on Thursday and Friday, the Pirates were paired with W&L in Saturday's semifinal. The Generals led 4-2 before the Pirates rallied to win. Andrew Durant singled home Mitch Nelson to pull Whitworth within one in the sixth, then Landon Scott doubled home the tying run in the seventh. JR Jarrell singled home Scott for a 5-4 Whitworth lead. The Bucs added an important insurance run in the eighth when Durant scored from third on an error by the W&L third baseman. The Pirates gave back an unearned run in the ninth, but Nathan Johnson struck out Jim Plantholt with the tying run in scoring position to end the game. Johnson gave up only the unearned run in 3.2 innings of relief to earn the win. Collin Gibbs went the first 5.1 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits. In the championship game against Hastings, Whitworth staked starting pitcher Peter Birdwell to a 12-1 lead in the third inning and the Pirates were never threatened. Birdwell pitched six innings and gave up two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts. Chad Flett tripled home a run and Dan Belet added a two-run double in Whitworth's five-run second inning. Jarrell hit a three-run home run in seven-run third frame. Scott, Flett and Durant finished with three hits each for the Pirates, while Belet finished with four runs batted in. For the first time this season, Whitworth (2-3) did not commit an error. The Pirates will open Northwest Conference play next weekend at Puget Sound with a four-game series against the Loggers. |
