SPOKANE, Wash. — Top-seeded Whitworth University captured the 2026 Northwest Conference Baseball Tournamentchampionship Friday evening at Merkel Field, defeating No. 2 seed Linfield University 9-7 to earn the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. Whitworth reached the title game with a semifinal win over University of Puget Sound, while Linfield advanced after rallying past Lewis & Clark College earlier in the day.
Semifinal 1: Linfield 8, Lewis & Clark 7
Linfield erased a six-run deficit to defeat Lewis & Clark 8-7 in the opening semifinal. The River Otters built a 6-0 lead in the second inning behind back-to-back home runs from Michael Aikawa and Bret Potter, who also set the program’s single-season hits record with his 67th hit of the year.
Wyatt Hurley led the Wildcats comeback with six RBIs, including a two-run home run in the fifth inning and a walk-off, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth to send Linfield to the championship game. Lewis & Clark finished its season with a 22-19 overall record.
Semifinal 2: Whitworth 6, Puget Sound 0
Whitworth advanced to the championship game with a 6-0 shutout victory over Puget Sound. Kyle Memarian opened the game with a leadoff home run and finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Nathaniel Kurano allowed just two hits over eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts.
The Pirates added two runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth before Seth Mahler closed out the victory in the ninth. Puget Sound concluded its season with a 23-17 overall record after making its second consecutive NWC Tournament appearance.
Championship: Whitworth 9, Linfield 7
Whitworth claimed the tournament title after rallying past Linfield in a back-and-forth championship game. The Wildcats erased an early 5-1 deficit with a four-run fourth inning to take a 7-5 lead, but Nate Gray Jr. tied the game with a two-run home run in the seventh before Spencer Shipman delivered a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning.
AJ Woodward earned the win with four scoreless innings of relief, while Mahler secured the championship with a scoreless ninth inning. Gray Jr. drove in four runs for the Pirates, while Rylan Gullard finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs for Linfield. Whitworth improved to 28-14 overall and secured the NWC’s automatic qualification into the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.