McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Call them the Comeback 'Cats. Twice facing elimination and early deficits, Linfield twice rallied to stay alive at the Northwest Conference Baseball Tournament and advance to Sunday's championship game.
 
After dropping the first game of the Northwest Conference Tournament, top-seeded Linfield overcame a 3-0 hole and found a way to get past Pacific Lutheran 6-5 Saturday morning at Roy Helser Field. In the nightcap, the Wildcats dispatched Whitworth, who had defeated the hosts Friday afternoon, 8-3 to set up a date with Willamette in the championship game.
 
Ryan Ross scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch against the Lutes, and Brady Rediger put the 'Cats ahead of the Pirates 5-3 with a seventh-inning home run. Riley Newman and Matt Strang earned the pitching victories.
 
GAME 3: Linfield 6, Pacific Lutheran 5 (PLU eliminated)
Newman was phenomenal for the Wildcats, throwing a complete game and allowing five runs while consistently got out of tough spots all game long. Contrary to the previous sunny day, teams experienced spotted showers and sunbreaks with consistent wind gusts playing tricks with fly balls. Playing through the conditions, the Linfield right-hander struck out six while giving up 11 hits and only two walks.
 
The Lutes struck first in the top of the second inning with one run and extended their lead to three runs in the fifth when Anthony Gosline lined a single to the gap in left center to score Connor Cantu. Gosline later scored on a single by Cole Johnson.
 
The big inning for the Wildcats was the bottom of the fifth, in which the 'Cats scored five runs on four hits. Ben Andrews delivered a bases-loaded, one-out double down the left-field line to clear the bases and tie the game. Linfield tagged on two more runs in the frame when Ross smashed a two-RBI single to bring home Ryan Pladson and Andrews. Collectively, the Wildcats chased Johnson, the Lutes starter, after just 4.1 innings pitched.
 
Terrific defense and masterful pitching from Newman and PLU reliever Lee Larson kept the teams scoreless, maintaining the 5-3 game, until the final two innings.
 
In the eighth, Linfield added one more run on a wild pitch where Ross came across to push the score to 6-3 heading to the ninth.
 
PLU threatened in the final inning thanks to a two-out, two-run home run from the NWC's leading hitter – Landon Packard – but the rally was cut short by Newman, who struck out Jacob Bockelie to end the game.
 
Linfield earned its 25th win of the season (25-11) and advanced from the loser's bracket. Pacific Lutheran fell to 22-12 with the loss and was eliminated from the conference tournament.
 
GAME 5: Linfield 8, Whitworth 3 (Whitworth eliminated)
Linfield again faced an early deficit, trailing 2-0 after Tyler Bailey led off the top half of the second with a home run to left and Ryan Bird sent another ball over the opposite fence in the fourth.
 
Andrews responded with a solo bomb in the bottom half of the frame, and a Jared Evans two-out double led to the tying run when Alex Hendra-Brown shot a RBI single to left field.
 
The 'Cats captured the lead, albeit a slim 3-2 advantage, in the third. Joey Cassano led off with a double, advanced on a Cameron Fox groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
 
The cat-and-mouse game continued in the sixth, when Whitworth knotted the score at 3-3 on McGowan's RBI single. Linfield's defense turned a key double play on the previous at-bat to prevent further damage.
 
Strang took the mound to start the eighth, and promptly registered a 1-2-3 inning, thanks in part to a serious stretch at first by Pladson for the 1-4-3 final out.
 
Brady Rediger gave Linfield the lead for good with a two-run homer in the seventh, scoring Jake Gellos, who had led off the inning with a single.
 
Slightly rattled but able to overcome adversity, Strang worked out of a serious jam in the eighth. He walked two consecutive Pirates, and the lead runner advanced two bases on wild pitches, but left McGowan swinging for the third strikeout of the inning, leaving Whitworth with their sixth and seventh stranded runners of the game.
 
Linfield took advantage of three bases-loaded situations to push the advantage to 8-3 in the eighth. With two Wildcats already in scoring position, Whitworth elected to intentionally walk Hendra-Brown. Daniel Zavala made them pay for the decision, shooting an RBI single to the gap in right to plate Pladson.
 
An error and Rediger single on back-to-back plays pushed two more runs across, but Linfield missed out on gaining a five-run advantage with two close calls at the plate.
 
Whitworth (23-15) threatened to rally in the ninth, getting consecutive singles from Cody Simmons and Garrett Hughes, but Connor Scott set up Matthew Nelson for a sky-high fly ball to center, ending the game.  
 
NEXT: Linfield and Willamette meet in the championship game Sunday at noon. The Wildcats must defeat the Bearcats, undefeated in tournament play, twice to earn the title and automatically advance to the NCAA playoffs.