FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Lewis & Clark College baseball will make their first-ever Northwest Conference Tournament appearance this weekend and their first post-season appearance in 30 years when they travel to Pacific University's Chuck Bafaro Stadium. The number two seed Pioneers will take on the third-seeded Willamette University in the second game of round one on Friday afternoon.
Friday's Match-up
#3 Willamette vs. #2 Lewis & Clark
(Lewis & Clark 26-11, 15-9 Northwest)
(Willamette 20-11, 15-9 Northwest)
Game Schedule –Double Elimination Tournament
April 21, 2023
Game 1: #4 Whitman at #1 seed Pacific, Noon
Game 2: #3 Willamette vs. #2 Lewis & Clark, 3:00 p.m.
April 22, 2023
Game 3: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2; 10:00 a.m.
Game 4: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 1:00 p.m.
Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 4:00 p.m.
April 23, 2023
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, Noon
Game 7: if necessary, 3:00 p.m.
Ticket Pricing
Admission will be charged for spectators. All-day session passes are priced at $6 for adults, $3 for children 6-12, non-NWC students (with ID), or seniors. Children under 6 and NWC students (with valid ID) are admitted for free. Pacific does not accept cash at the gates for tickets. You can purchase your tickets ahead of time
here or at the gate with a credit/debit card.
Follow Live
Video and live stats will be available through the links at lcpioneers.com.
Previous Meeting
Lewis & Clark won the season series against Willamette this year. After dropping the first game 9-6 on April 7, the Pioneers won swept a doubleheader the next day, winning 9-1 and 5-1 in Salem.
Series History
Since 2020, the Pioneers are 6-8 against the Bearcats. Their win on February 16, 2020, broke a 31-game losing streak for the Pios. This season Lewis & Clark won the series meeting against Willamette for the first time since 2007; it was also the first time Head Coach
Matt Kosderka earned a series win over his alma mater.
Scouting the Pioneers
Lewis & Clark earned the number two seed in this week's tournament with solid pitching from their three starters and a potent offense. The Pioneers have won six straight games and are riding their longest winning streak since starting the 2004 season 8-0. The last time Lewis & Clark won six NWC games in a row was in 1987, when they won nine straight NWC matchups during a 10-game win streak.
The Pioneers finished the regular season 26-11 and 15-9 in NWC games. Their 26 wins are tied for the fifth-most in program history, and their .703 winning percentage is the third-best in the team's 76-year history and the best since 1981. The 15 NWC wins are tied for the most conference wins in program history, the most since 1978, and gave Lewis & Clark its best conference finish since 1992.
The Pioneers won six of their nine NWC series this season. They went 3-0 against George Fox University and Linfield University and 2-1 against Pacific Lutheran University, Willamette, and Whitman College. Lewis went 1-2 against Pacific, Whitworth University, and the University of Puget Sound.
Offensively the Pioneers have weapons up and down their lineup. The team leads all of Division III with 64 home runs. Reigning NWC Player of the Year and D3baseball.com's Preseason All-American senior
Jack Thomson leads the nation with 19 home runs. He is hitting .365 with 44 RBI. Sophomore
Brennen Davis is hitting .361 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI. The three Pioneer starting pitchers are a combined 15-5 this season with 34 appearances. Sophomore
Luke Ritter leads the way with a 2.95 ERA and 57 strikeouts.
Scouting the Bearcats
Willamette earned the number three seed in the tournament after losing four of their last six games. They ended the regular season with a 20-11 record and went 15-9 in the NWC. They lost the tiebreaker to the Pioneers due to their head-to-head record. This is the fourth time Willamette has qualified for the NWC Tournament since the inaugural tournament in 2015. The Bearcats won the NWC Tournament title in 2018.
The Bearcats won their season series against Pacific and Pacific Lutheran 2-1 and won 3-0 against George Fox, Whitworth, and Whitman. They lost their series to the Pioneers and Linfield 2-1 and Puget Sound 3-0. Prior to Willamette's series with Lewis & Clark, the Bearcats were on a seven-game winning streak and made it eight with a game-one win over the Pioneers.
Offensively, Willamette is led by junior Jeff Hoffman and seniors Jonny Suchor and Luke Wekmeister-Martin. Hoffman leads the Bearcats with eight home runs and 25 RBI. Suchor is hitting .368 with two home runs and 18 RBI, and Werkmeister-Martin is hitting .314 with a home run and 23 RBI. Willamette's top pitcher is senior Layton Wagner, who is 4-2 in 10 appearances with a 4.53 ERA and 65 strikeouts.
#4 Whitman vs. #1 Pacific
Pacific finished 21-10 and 18-6 in the NWC. The Boxers won six of their last seven games entering the tournament. Whitman earned the four seed in the tournament with a 22-14 overall record and a 13-11 conference record. Whitman won the series between the two teams two games to one in Forest Grove earlier this season. The Boxers are the two-time defending tournament champions, and the Blues won the tournament in their only other appearance in 2019. This will be Pacific's fifth appearance in the post-season tournament.
What's Next
If the Pioneers win Friday's game, they will play the winner of game one at 1 p.m. Saturday.
