The Whitworth Pirates have been selected as the preseason favorite in the 2026 Northwest Conference (NWC) baseball poll, as voted on by the conference’s head coaches.
Whitworth earned 63 points and seven first-place votes to secure the top spot after capturing the 2025 NWC Tournament title. Defending regular-season champion Pacific was picked second with 54 points and one first-place vote, while Puget Sound placed third with 45 points and one first-place vote. Whitman followed closely in fourth with 44 points.
Linfield was selected fifth with 35 points, followed by Lewis & Clark in sixth with 28 points. Pacific Lutheran took seventh with 23 points, Willamette finished eighth with 21 points, and George Fox rounded out the poll with 11 points.
Northwest Conference play is set to begin on February 28. The 2026 NWC Baseball Tournament will be held May 8–10 and hosted by the regular-season champion.
|
Team
|
Pts.
|
2025 NWC Finish
|
|
Whitworth (7)
|
63
|
2nd
|
|
Pacific (1)
|
54
|
1st
|
|
Puget Sound (1)
|
45
|
3rd
|
|
Whitman
|
44
|
5th
|
|
Linfield
|
35
|
4th
|
|
Lewis & Clark
|
28
|
7th
|
|
Pacific Lutheran
|
23
|
8th
|
|
Willamette
|
21
|
5th
|
| George Fox |
11 |
9th |
*Numbers in parentheses indicate first place votes.