TACOMA, Wash. – Putting on an impressive display of offensive firepower, the 13th-ranked Linfield Wildcats breezed by the Pacific Lutheran Lutes in a Northwest Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon at the PLU diamond. The Wildcats won the opener comfortably by a score of 7-3, then swamped the Lutes in the nightcap, 11-2.
 
Linfield leadoff hitter Maddy Colson went 5 for 8 with three doubles and a home run. Abi Proffit homered and drove in five runs as the Wildcats outhit the Lutes 23-12.
 
Completing the four-game series sweep on the road, the Wildcats (10-1-1, 8-0 NWC) stretched their win streak to 10 games. PLU slipped to 11-8 and 3-5 in conference play. In the weekend set, Linfield amassed 51 hits, 39 runs and belted nine home runs over a 24-inning span.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 7, Pacific Lutheran 3
Both teams totaled nine hits, though it was Linfield which took the greatest advantage of its opportunities.
 
A three-run first inning, highlighted by a leadoff double from Colson and a two-run homer from Darian Stedman, got the Linfield offense uncorked in the early going.
 
Linfield added a single run in the second on a sacrifice RBI from Shakayla Snyder that scored Chelsea Horita, and added another in the third when Makenna Clizer scored from third base on a muffed throw to the plate. Proffitt added a two-run single in the fifth, pushing the Linfield lead to 7-0.
 
PLU got on the scoreboard with three runs in the sixth after Linfield starter Shelby Saylors yielded back-to-back doubles by Anna Overland and Erin McGrath, plus a sacrifice fly by Nicole Manuel that allowed McGrath to score from third. The Lutes put a runner aboard in the seventh but Saylors (5-1) held the hosts hitless over the final inning to collect her second complete-game pitching victory of the series.
 
Colson, Proffitt and Kelsey Wilkinson all registered two hits in the game. Stedman and Proffitt tallied two RBI. Wilkinson stole two bases.
 
Overland, McGrath and Kathryn Hatlen each tapped a pair of hits for PLU. Lutes starter Z Ellis (5-4) was saddled with the loss, lasting just 2/3 of an inning before turning the game over to Kennedy Robillard.
 
GAME 2: Linfield 11, Pacific Lutheran 1, 5 innings
The Wildcats hit three home runs among their 14 hits with Colson and Phillips leading the hit parade with three knocks a piece.
 
Colson blasted a leadoff home run in the game's first at-bat as the Wildcats continued their torrid hitting pace. Stedman followed minutes later with an RBI single that scored Katie Phillips from second base.
 
The 'Cats added two more runs in the second to open up a 4-0 lead. Colson doubled to push home pinch runner Jocie Newton, then Phillips singled to send Colson sprinting home all the way from second.
 
PLU trimmed the margin to three runs in the bottom of the second. Nanea Kalama singled to plate McGrath, but Linfield matched that with a run in the third when Paige Smotherman drove in Stedman.
 
The game turned into a blowout in the fourth. Wilkinson drilled an RBI double to make the score 6-1 before Proffitt followed with a three-run homer and Horita uncorked her first round-trip blast of the season. Snyder added to the Lutes' misery with an RBI single on a two-strike, two-out pitch from Robillard.
 
The Lutes notched their second run on Robillard's sacrifice RBI in the fifth.
 
Tanna Benson (5-0) twirled her second pitching win in as many days, scattering three hits and two walks over five innings of action.
 
Ellis was tagged with the loss, giving up nine hits, seven earned runs and three walks in 2 1/3 innings of work.
 
Next
Linfield packs its bags for Florida where the 'Cats are scheduled to compete Friday-Sunday in The Spring Games at Clermont, located near Orlando. The Wildcats are set to play a gauntlet of quality NCAA Division III programs, including second-ranked Illinois Wesleyan, Lake Forest (Ill.), Hope (Mich.), No. 25 Calvin (Mich.), 12th-ranked Rowan (N.J.) and Bowdoin (Maine).