McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield starters Riley Newman and Carter Buuck turned in a pair of dominating, double-digit strikeout performances on the mound and six seniors got one win in their final appearances at Roy Helser Field as the playoff-bound Wildcats split a doubleheader against George Fox. The hosts got a 3-2 walk-off victory before falling 6-5 in the nightcap via the Bruins' ninth-inning comeback.
 
Newman and Buuck combined for 22 strikeouts, Ben Andrews had two doubles among three hits and Levi Horner-Villa went 4-for-5 in Game 2. Linfield registered its fourth 30-win season of the past five seasons in improving to 30-13 on the season with more games yet to play.
 
George Fox, which just missed the four-team Northwest Conference playoff, ran its record to 18-19.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 3, George Fox 2
In walk-off fashion, Jake Gellos plopped a one-out double just inside the left-field line to plate Kekoa Kaulukukui for the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
 
The clutch hit was necessary after George Fox staged a late-inning rally, knotting the score at 2-2 in the previous inning.  
 
Generally speaking, it was a quiet offensive day for both clubs as starters Newman and Alex Jondal dueled on the mound. Newman, who earned his ninth victory of the season, tallied his third double-digit strikeout performance of the year, racking up 10 Bruins against three hits.
 
The only other scoring inning for either team came in the third, when Ryan Pladson followed up a pair of singles with a two-RBI double, giving Linfield the early 2-0 lead. Seven different Wildcats tallied hits, but the team had zero through the middle innings.
 
The Bruins scored twice in the eighth after loading the bases on a Kyle Esquerra single and two walks. Zak Muenster plated both runs on a single to center field, and George Fox nearly registered the go-ahead run on a passed ball, but Gellos corralled the ball and threw to Newman in time for the tag at home.
 
Facing the prospect of an extra-inning contest for the second straight day, Linfield instead ended things in regulation. Kaulukukui reached safely when the throw from third to first skipped across the turf, and had the opportunity to score on Gellos' fourth double of the year.  
 
GAME 2: George Fox 6, Linfield 5
Opening the game with four straight hits and five total in the first frame, Linfield again seized command early in the second matchup between the county rivals. But the Bruins hung around, and stole the Game 2 victory thanks to a three-run ninth inning.
 
Scoring on an Andrews double, and singles from Ryan Ross and Horner-Villa, the Wildcats went up 3-0 after one completed inning.
 
Buuck, meanwhile, put together another tremendous pitching performance for the second straight weekend. After throwing five scoreless innings to help Linfield force a winner-take-all championship game in the NWC Tournament and entering the game with 13 strikeouts on the year, Buuck totaled 12 Ks against the Bruins.
 
George Fox scored once in the first and second to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Horner-Villa made it a two-run ball game once more with a solo home run in the third. Andrews supplied another RBI double in the fourth, pushing Linfield's advantage to 5-2 and bringing the senior within a double of tying the all-time program mark of 52, set by Stew Davis from 2006-09.
 
George Fox loaded the bases on two walks and a hit batter in the top of the seventh, but managed just one run as the Linfield defense recovered with a couple of stellar defensive plays.
 
Tristan Guillen plated one run with a sacrifice fly, making it a 5-3 game. Andrews caught another fly ball deep in the infield, and pinch runner Zach Rhoads took a chance at stealing third, only to be tagged out when Connor Scott made a quick throw back to Andrews, who made it back to the bag in time for the final out of the inning, leaving the tying runs stranded on base.
 
Scott bounced back from the rough inning with a three up, three down eighth. But the Bruins got to him again in the ninth. Derek Johnson and Muenster supplied two-out singles, and a third base hit from Gavin Speegle drove in a run, bringing George Fox within one, 5-4. Poor fielding on an attempted force-out throw to second loaded the bases, AJ Valencia pushed across the tying run with a single to left and Jalen Drath drove home the eventual game-winning run on a sacrifice fly.
 
Linfield had a chance for a second walk-off victory as Horner-Villa led off the ninth with a single and moved into scoring position on a passed ball. But a bunt attempt was fouled off to the catcher and George Fox secured two more outs against pinch hitters to steal the win.
 
'CAT SCRATCH: Prior to the game, Linfield honored its six graduating seniors: Andrews, Kaulukukui, Newman, Pladson, Scott and Scott Hilpert, who returned to Roy Helser Field for the first time since suffering a season-ending injury on the final NWC series...in between games, the program honored longtime assistant coach Jim Ray, who is retiring at the end of the year along with head coach Scott Carnahan.
 
COMING UP: Linfield learns of its NCAA regional playoff destination on Sunday, May 14.