PORTLAND, Ore. – Linfield nailed down a share of its first Northwest Conference championship since 2014, sweeping the Lewis & Clark Pioneers 9-1 and 12-3 in the regular-season finale for both clubs Tuesday at Huston Sports Complex. Both games were shortened to five innings by the eight-run rule.
 
The Wildcats (32-8, 24-4 NWC) finished the 28-game NWC season in a dead heat for the title with Yamhill County neighbor George Fox. The Bruins and Wildcats split their four-game series last month in McMinnville. However, George Fox secured the right to host this weekend's NWC Tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker that had the Bruins losing one fewer game to the conference's third-place club, the Whitworth Pirates.

Linfield claimed the 13th NWC championship in program history. George Fox earned a piece of its first-ever title.
 
Linfield opens tournament play against Whitworth Friday at 2:30 p.m. at GFU's Morse Field. George Fox plays Pacific in the other first-round game at 11 a.m. The double-elimination tournament continues through Sunday. The NWC champion earns the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III regional playoffs. Other teams may qualify, but must receive at-large berths from the NCAA Softball Selection Committee.
 
Linfield heads to the NWC Tournament on a roll, having won four straight contests and 19 of the previous 21. Its only losses in that skein came at the hands of fellow tournament entries Whitworth and Pacific.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 9, Lewis & Clark 1
Shelby Saylors spun a five-hitter in the pitching circle and Paige Smotherman went 3 for 3 with a home run to carry the Wildcats past the Pioneers in the opening game.
 
Linfield leadoff hitter Jacinda Swiger had two hits, scored twice and stole two bases.
 
Linfield broke open a scoreless game with a six-run third inning that included Smotherman's third roundtripper of the season.
 
Saylors won her 50th career game, striking out two Pioneers and walking one.
 
GAME 2: Linfield 12, Lewis & Clark 3
Makenna Clizer went 3 for 3 with two doubles and drove in three runs to power the Wildcats to the championship-clinching victory.
 
After Linfield plated five runs in the top of the first inning, Lewis & Clark answered with three hits and three runs of its own to pull to within two. Wildcats starter Eliza Rossman was replaced by Saylors, who held the Pioneers to no runs and one hit the rest of the way.
 
Saylors collected her 16th win of the season. She walked two and struck out one batter.
 
As Melanie Oord and Jessica Woodruff also notched doubles, five of the Wildcats' nine hits went for extra bases. Chelsea Horita launched her fifth home run of the season in the fourth inning, a three-run shot that put the game out of reach.