McMINNVILLE, Ore. – A bloop single over the head of Linfield third baseman Alec Cook with two outs in the top of the ninth inning broke up a combined no-hitter but Linfield nonetheless went on to earn a 9-1 Northwest Conference victory and a series sweep of the Whitman Blues Monday afternoon at soggy Roy Helser Field. The game was played a day later than originally scheduled, due to heavy rain storms that passed through McMinnville on Sunday.
 
Winners of eight-straight Linfield is 22-14 overall and completed its NWC schedule with a 16-8 record. Needing just one win in the series to reach this week's NWC Tournament, Whitman's postseason hopes were ended with a record of 18-20 and 12-12 in the NWC.
 
How it played out
Pitchers Carter Buuck, Taylor Boos, Matt McDonald, Matt Strang and Kameron Walker were dominant from the mound, allowing just six base runners acrosse eight innings.
 
The 'Cats struck first with two runs in the second. A double down the left-field line off the bat Alex Hendra-Brown scored Cameron Fox. Later in the inning, Cook singled to left to bring in Hendra-Brown.
 
An RBI single by Levi Horner-Villa in the the fifth made it 3-0, allowing Ryan Ross to reach home plate.
 
In the next frame, Ross put the game away with a double off the top of the wall in left field that enabled  Brady Rediger and Cook to score, giving Linfield a 5-0 advantage. Jake Gellos hit a single on the next at-bat, bringing in Ross for a second time.
 
The 'Cats pushed three more across in the eighth. Horner-Villa collected two RBI on a single up the middle, scoring Ross and Rediger for a 9-0 lead.
 
Whitman plated its only run in the ninth on a chip-shot off the bat of Kyle Reisman. The Blues were held to just three hits in the series, one in each game of the teams' three games.
 
Linfield in the box
Linfield outhit Whitman 19-1. Eight of Linfield's nine starters recorded a hit. Joey Cassano continued his hot-hitting with a 3 for 5 afternoon. He also scored a run. Ross scored three times and went 3 for 5 with three RBI. Rediger, Gellos, Horner-Villa and Cook each had two hits. Horner-Villa tied the club-high with three RBI.
 
Wildcat arms
Buuck, the Linfield starter, improved to 7-2. He ranks second in the NWC behind Willamette's Matt Steindorf for the most wins this season. Buuck tossed 3 1/3 innings, not allowing a hit, while striking out four and walking one. McDonald finished the fourth and allowed just one Blues batter to reach on a walk. Boos threw the fifth inning and struck out one while not allowing a hit. Strang pitched two quality innings, notching three strikeouts and withing conceding a base. Walker entered at the start of the eighth. He struck out one and did not allow Whitman to reach safely in his one inning of work. Liam Herlihy started the ninth and struck out two. The lone hit of the game for Whitman came with two strikes and two outs, landing in no-man's land behind third base.
 
Blues at the plate
The Blues could only muster three hits in 36 innings versus the Wildcats pitching staff. Whitman had five different hitters reach on walks. Reisman went 1 for 3, accounting for the only Blues hit.
 
Whitman on the mound
Steven Ainsworth was credited with the loss (3-5). He threw the first 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. Reliever Milo Mincin surrendered four runs on six hits in two innings of work. Brendan Henry threw the following 1.1 innings where he gave up one run on two hits. Collin Anderson and Braden Hussey finished the game for the Blues.
 
Next
Linfield heads to the NWC Tournament Friday-Sunday in Tacoma. The 'Cats meet the Willamette Bearcats in the opening round on Friday afternoon.