The five-through-nine hitters in the Whitworth University lineup went 13-for-19 with 13 runs batted in and 11 runs scored and the Pirates eliminated Husson University from the Montclair State NCAA Division III Regional in New Jersey on Saturday, 15-10.
It was Whitworth’s first win in a regional tournament since 2016.
The Pirates then went on to beat Montclair State, 7-1, and Endicott, 19-8, to force a championship game against Endicott on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, the Pirates pounded out 17 hits in the win over Husson after Endicott had collected 19 hits in a 17-0 victory over Husson on Friday.
Dominic Giusti had a double and three singles and scored five times for Whitworth, and Ty Komoda and Yash Gupta each had a double and two singles with Komodo driving in five runs and Gupta knocking in two.
Spencer Shipman hit his team-leading 12th homer and also had a base hit, Nate Gray Jr. had two singles and two RBIs and Austin Paul knocked in three runs with a two-run single and sacrifice fly.
Matt Holmes belted his team-high 10th homer for Husson and he also had a single.
Keegan Cyr’s three-run double capped a six-run fourth inning rally for Husson that erased a 6-0 deficit. Cam Rendell, Liam Kelley and Ryan Bousquet had hit RBI singles earlier in the inning.
Whitworth, in Washington state, broke a 6-6 tie and took the lead for good with four runs in the fifth on Gupta’s RBI double, Paul’s two-run single and a wild pitch.
Husson concluded a 24-18 season.
