FOREST GROVE, Ore. – A five-run 10th inning and strong Game 2 start by Riley Newman helped Linfield take a Northwest Conference doubleheader from host Pacific Saturday afternoon at Chuck Bufaro Stadium.
 
The Wildcats broke a 3-3 stalemate in the top of the 10th inning for an 8-4 victory, and then withstood a furious Boxer rally for a narrow 5-4 win in the nightcap. Linfield improved to 16-9 overall and 11-5 in league action, maintaining a steady hold on third place in the conference standings. Pacific (12-14, 7-13 NWC) watched its three-game win streak grind to a halt.
 
GAME 1: LINFIELD 8, PACIFIC 4 – 10 INNINGS
Scoring five times on seven hits, the Wildcats won their second extra-inning contest of the past week, improving to 2-2 overall in those situations in 2017. Ryan Pladson had three of the team's 14 hits, while Scott Hilpert and Joey Cassano each drove in a pair of runs.
 
Both teams registered one-run innings in the third and sixth, and the Boxers took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh via a combination of small ball and a Linfield fielding error.
 
Pladson followed up a Ben Andrews double with an RBI single to right field, knotting the score at 3-3.
 
Pacific had the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, but Matt Strang coaxed Dietrich into an inning-ending groundout to send the game to extras.
 
Entering the game as the Boxers' second reliever to start the 10^th, Ahlgrimm got out to a good start, getting Andrews to foul out, but yielded back-to-back hits as Linfield seized control, 4-3, on a Levi Horner-Villa outfield single. After pinch runner Cameron Fox stole second, Jared Evans drove in the eventual game-winning run on a two-out single to left.
 
Jake Gellos loaded the bags with another base hit, Cassano drove home two with a single through the left side and Hilpert pushed across another run before Pacific finally got out of the inning, trailing 8-4.
 
The Boxers generated three hits in their last offensive inning, but only one – a solo homer run from Galeno – produced any runs, thanks to a key lineout double play turned by the Wildcat defense.
 
Strang pocketed the win, while Cason Cunningham tallied five strikeouts through six innings.
 
GAME 2: LINFIELD 5, PACIFIC 4
Brady Rediger and Cassano each had three hits for the Wildcats, who outhit their hosts 12-2 but only narrowly escaped with a second win on the day.
 
Newman recorded seven strikeouts and surrendered one hit and three runs en route to his fourth victory of the season.
 
Linfield jumped on Pacific early, scoring twice in the first on three hits, including an RBI single from Ryan Ross, and a Boxer error.
 
The Wildcats' lead grew to as many as four, 5-1, on Evan's two-run bomb in the eighth but the Boxers made it interesting with three runs in their half of the penultimate inning.
 
Three straight walks against zero outs gave Pacific plenty of opportunity to tie or pull ahead. Wisdom drove in one run on a single to left, Dietrich plated Pacific's third run of the game on a sacrifice fly and an error allowed the Boxers to pull within one, 5-4.
 
But Connor Scott and the Linfield defense locked down in the ninth, denying the Boxers a baserunner to preserve the victory.
 
AHEAD: Linfield looks to secure the sweep when the Wildcats and Boxers face off Sunday at noon.