NEWBERG, Ore. – Scott Hilpert counted a grand slam among six hits and nine RBI, while both Linfield starting pitchers notched victories as the Wildcats bounced back from a disappointing opening to the Northwest Conference season with a resounding doubleheader sweep of rival George Fox. Linfield downed the Bruins 10-3 and 11-0 Saturday afternoon at the Morse Athletic Field.
 
Cason Cunningham and Riley Newman earned the pitching victories, with Newman surrendering just five hits in seven scoreless innings. Combined, four Wildcat pitchers fanned 17 batters on the day.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 10, George Fox 3
The 'Cats broke open a close 2-1 ballgame with a three-run fourth frame and tacked on five more for good measure in the ninth.
 
Hilpert followed up leadoff hits by Colton Robinson and Rediger with a two-RBI double, and Ryan Pladson pushed a third run across despite grounding into a double play.
 
Cunningham, meanwhile, was in the middle of a dominating stretch in which he retired 13 straight Bruins through the fifth frame. He yielded three walks and a hit batter against three strikeouts, but denied the home team a hit before handing off to Cal Neely, who recorded the save.
 
Linfield batted around in the ninth to push the spread to the final 10-3 margin. Alex Hendra-Brown supplied a two-RBI single as part of the monster inning.
 
GAME 2: Linfield 11, George Fox 0
The Wildcats' first shutout of the year came thanks in big part to a nine-strikeout performance by Newman. He scattered five hits and two walks in seven complete innings, but he and the rest of the Linfield defense refused to give George Fox anything else to work with.
 
Offensively, the 'Cats did all their damage in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Zavala was the first of three to get on base to start the third, and Hilpert brought them all home with a grand slam, his fifth hit of the afternoon. He drove home two more runs in the fourth, and Pladson pushed across Linfield's seventh run of the game with a single through the right side.
 
Linfield's starting catcher punched one through the gap on the opposite side of the field for two more RBI in the fifth. Levi Horner-Villa scored on a wild pitch, and Ben Andrews drew a bases-loaded walk for the other two runs.
 
Connor Scott closed out the game for the 'Cats, notching three strikeouts in just two innings of work.
 
UP NEXT: Linfield looks to complete the series sweep in Game 3, Sunday beginning at noon.