McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield ace Montana McNealy spun a no-hitter in Game 1 and notched her school-record ninth shutout of the season, 4-0, before Whitworth exacted a measure of revenge by pounding 12 hits in an 8-3 Game 2 victory Saturday at Del Smith Stadium. The long-awaited matchup pitted Linfield, the 11-time Northwest Conference champion, against the front-running Pirates.
Shannon Wessel drove in four runs in the nightcap for Whitworth, which maintained its lead in the NWC standings entering the season's home stretch.
With Saturday's two-game split, the Pirates inched closer to unseating the Wildcats as NWC kingpin. Whitworth (26-8, 17-5 NWC) leads Linfield (24-10, 13-9 NWC) in the NWC standings by four games with six games left on the docket.
GAME 1: Linfield 4, Whitworth 0McNealy logged her first career no-hitter, fanning a dozen Pirates in a dominating first-game performance. And the Wildcats played error-free defense behind her all the way through the final out when shortstop Alissa Buss made a lunging infield snag of a drifting line drive by Peyton McMahon.
Linfield jumped on Whitworth starter Madi Perez in the bottom of the first inning, loading the bases on the sophomore righthander with one out. Erin Kinney reached base on a fielder's choice, allowing Grace Middelstadt to squeak home from third base. Perez struck out Erin Tauscher swinging to limit the damage.
Buss came through with a timely sacrifice RBI in the fifth inning, giving the Wildcats and McNealy some much-needed breathing room.
Linfield put the game away in the sixth. Cheyenne Fletcher singled, and Kinney and Danielle Duman each drew walks to load the bases. McKenna Spieth then laced a two-run single through the infield, extending the Wildcats' lead to 4-0.
Perez (13-5) spread out six hits, striking out four ‘Cats and walking four.
GAME 2: Whitworth 8, Linfield 3This time it was Whitworth that got on the board during the game's first five minutes. The Pirates led off with a single by Chelsey Hayes, a double from Megan John and followed with a three-run homer by Wessel before the first out was recorded. Kayla Batastini then tapped a single to right field that scored Tessa Matthews, who reached base on an errant throw to first.
Speith gave the Wildcats a momentary spark, hammering a one-out solo home run over the left-field wall in the bottom of the second. Duman followed suit on the very next at-bat, blasting her NWC-leading 12th home run of the season over the top of the Wildcats' batting cages in center field.
Lefever and the Pirates weathered the flurry, pushing across single runs in the third and fourth innings to go back on top by four. Wessel and McMahon each drove in runs in the sixth to extend the Whitworth lead.
Makayla Lefever tossed the complete-game victory in the circle for the Pirates. Though two of her six hits allowed were for home runs, Lefever was otherwise unflappable, scattering four other hits plus a walk while striking out eight Linfield batters.
Dunn (7-5) suffered the loss. She lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Brynn Lio came on in relief in the sixth, allowing two hits across the final 1 1/3 innings.
Carson was the only Wildcat with more than one hit, going 2-for-3.
Wessel, Batastini and Hayes all had two hits for the Pirates.
‘CAT SCRATCH: Whitworth played error-free defense in Saturday's doubleheader. . . Middelstadt stole her 18th base of the season without a single pickoff. . . the senior now has 97 career base thefts. . . McNealy climbed to No. 7 on Linfield's career strikeouts ladder, now with 241 and counting. . . the senior southpaw elevated her season victories total to 16 while surpassing former all-stars Liz Coburn (2004) and Lauren Harvey (2012) for the top spot on the single-season shutouts list.
NEXT: The Wildcats and Pirates continue their four-game series with a Sunday twinbill starting at noon.
