McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Powered by two home runs from Cheyenne Fletcher and masterful pitching by Shelby Saylors, the Linfield College softball team clinched its ninth NCAA regional championship, beating George Fox and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday to complete a three-game sweep of the NCAA Division III McMinnville Oregon Regional at Del Smith Stadium.
 
The Wildcats (38-8) advance to the best-of-three Super Regionals and will play Seguin Texas Regional champion Texas-Tyler (39-2) starting Friday in Tyler, Texas.
 
Linfield 2, Claremont-M-S 1
Fletcher's second home run of the day proved to the be the difference for the Wildcats. Fletcher scored both Linfield runs, providing just enough offense for Saylors, who held the Athenas to three hits and no walks to earn her 23rd pitching victory of the season.
 
Darian Stedman was the only player in the game to produce two hits, one of which gave Linfield the game's initial lead.
 
In the first inning, Fletcher was hit by a Chloe Amarilla pitch, then stole second base. A single by Melanie Oord followed to push Fletcher to third. That set the table for an RBI single to right field by Stedman, giving the 'Cats early momentum.
 
The game remained a pitchers' duel until the top of the fifth. Jessica Fox singled to open the inning, then Kylie Hetzel reached base on a fielder's choice. Both Fox and Hetzel grabbed one more base, courtesy of a Wildcats' throwing error. A sacrifice fly by Reeve Grobecker bought Fox enough time to score from third, knotting the score at 1.
 
Fletcher and the Wildcats answered the Athenas' charge in the bottom of the inning as the Wildcats All-American sent a ball out of the park deep in left-center field.
 
Amarilla took the loss to fall to 11-5.
 
Linfield 9, George Fox 1, 6 innings
Fletcher's three-run homer in the second inning powered the Wildcats to a decisive victory over their cross-county rivals in Saturday's opening contest. The game was shortened to six innings by the eight-run rule.
 
Fletcher's blast broke a 1-1 tie.
 
 Saylors equaled a season-high with seven strikeouts in picking up her second tournament win. The junior righthander improved to 22-5 for the season.
 
Fletcher provided the game's first fireworks bottom of the first inning, lofting a single to left field that scored leadoff hitter Jacinda Swiger from third base.
 
After conceding a pair of base runners in the first inning, and a second inning solo home run to Kimi Ito, Saylors tightened the screws on the Bruins after that, allowing just one more base runner the rest of the way.
 
Makenna Clizer added two insurance runs with a two-run homer over the left-field wall, pushing the Wildcats' advantage to 7-1.   Stedman ended the game with an RBI single to left field.
 
Linfield outhit George Fox 10-3. Fletcher went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs, Smotherman knocked a pair of hits and Swiger, Stedman and Clizer all drove in two runs.
 
Charged with four errors, the Bruins were their own worst enemy at times. GFU all-star pitcher Madison Sorensen was tagged with her second loss in two days but nonetheless ended the season with 22 wins. Sorensen allowed eight hits and a pair of walks while striking out just two Wildcats.
 
George Fox, which tied Linfield for the Northwest Conference regular-season championship, ended its season with a school-record 35 wins against 11 defeats. Including the NWC Tournament, the 10th-ranked Bruins ended their season with three straight losses, two to the Wildcats.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Shelby Saylors, Linfield (Most Outstanding Player)
Darian Stedman, Linfield
Jacinda Swiger, Linfield
Alyssa Gonzalez, George Fox
Carly Roleder, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Cheyenne Fletcher, Linfield
Melanie Oord, Linfield
Anna Gurr, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Kimi Ito, George Fox
Brianna Halle, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps