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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Whitworth survives Mother Nature, Case Western Reserve

Between a 46-minute lightning delay, a deluge of rain that stopped play for 17 minutes, and a one-out bases-loaded jam, the Whitworth Pirates managed to hold on for an 8-5 victory over Case Western Reserve in the NCAA Division III baseball tournament regional game at Avista Stadium.

The Pirates (30-11) came out strong and starting pitcher Hugh Smith made enough pitches to keep the Spartans (26-14) contained. Whitworth will play Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against Texas-Tyler (31-17).

Whitworth started hot as Garrett Hughes led off the game with a sharp single up the middle. After Jordan McGowan walked between a pair of outs, Joel Condreay smashed a single up the middle that scored Hughes and McGowan to give Whitworth a 2-0 lead.

The Pirates offense kept rolling in the second as Nate Lamberty singled off third baseman Jacob Kucia’s glove. Hughes followed with a two-out, two-run homer to left field to give Whitworth a 4-0 lead.

The Pirates added on in the third inning when Joel Condreay reached on a one-out bunt single to start things off. After Condreay advanced to third on a passed ball, Daniel Casanova banged a single to left field to score Condreay, which ended the night for Case Western starting pitcher Jake Shields.

Whitworth hurler Hugh Smith kept getting into jams, but his defense continually bailed him out until the bottom of the third when Smith gave up a walk to Eric Eldred and singles to Aaron Cain and Josh Neal to load the bases.

Rocco Maue then hit into a double play, but Eldred came in to score to make it 5-1 Whitworth.

After the 46-minute lightning delay in the bottom of the fourth, Whitworth came up in the top of the fifth and did more damage.

After Casanova walked, Ryan Bird singled to center field to score Casanova to make it 6-1. Jordan McGowan then walked in a run to push the lead to 7-1.

In the top of the sixth inning, Condreay led off with a double and Nate Lamberty later knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to stretch the advantage to 8-1. Case Western added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning when Maue hit an RBI ground-out to score Josh Neal to make it 8-2.

Case Western added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it 8-4 and the Spartans had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the night before Pirates reliever Kelly Fitzpatrick closed the door on the rally.

Other games: In game one, Trinity (Texas) (36-7) earned a 7-3 win over Pacific Lutheran (26-18). In the middle game, Texas-Tyler (31-17) won 4-3 over Cal Lutheran (31-12).