SALEM, Ore. – Paige Smotherman went 4 for 5 and scored three times to help Linfield outscore Northwest Conference foe Willamette 17-3 during a doubleheader sweep of the Bearcats Saturday afternoon at the WU Softball Field.
 
Linfield won the opener 6-2 behind an 11-strikeout performance by Shelby Saylors. The Wildcats then piled up 11 hits on four Bearcats pitchers to win 11-1 in the second game, shortened to five innings by the eight-run rule.
 
The defending NWC champion Wildcats (20-4-1, 13-1 NWC) ran their current win streak to six in a row while moving a half-game in front of Whitworth (12-1) atop the NWC standings. Pacific remained close behind at 12-2.
 
Saturday's sweep of the Bearcats (3-22, 2-12 NWC) ensured the Linfield softball program of its 24th consecutive season with at least 20 wins, a span that stretches to 1996.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 6, Willamette 2
Saylors equaled her career-high of 11 strikeouts and Abi Proffitt blasted two home runs to carry the Wildcats to the series-opening win.
 
Saylors scattered five hits and walked two, improving to 10-3 in the circle. WU stater Morgan Penn took the loss to fall to 0-2. She allowed eight hits while walking one and logging just one strikeout over five inning's work.
 
Katie Phillips went 2 for 3 while Proffitt and Smotherman also had a pair of hits and scored twice.
 
Linfield plated three runs in the second inning, getting a two-run homer from Proffitt and a sacrifice RBI by Kelsey Wilkinson that scored Smotherman.
 
A double by Phillips in the fourth enabled Smotherman to score before Wilkinson lofted another sacrifice fly to score Maddy Colson.
 
The Bearcats pushed two runs across in the fourth. Kelsey Wong drilled a triple to left-center field to score Jewel Fleckenstein. Cassie Cosler then singled to drive home Wong, cutting Linfield's advantage to 5-2. Proffitt pounded her second home run of the game and sixth of the season in the top of the fifth.
 
GAME 2: Linfield 11, Willamette 1, 5 innings
Darian Stedman tapped three hits, stole three bases and scored three runs, sparking the Wildcats to the lopsided outcome in the nightcap.
 
Smotherman and Makenna Clizer each chipped in with two hits and Phillips sent her fifth home run of the season over the outfield fence to highlight a four-run third inning.
 
Eliza Rossman earned her first win of the season in relief of Wildcats starter Tanna Benson. Rossman went 3 2/3 innings, holding Willamette to two hits before turning the game over to Maddy Podnar in the fifth.
 
The Wildcats spotted the Bearcats a run in the first inning when Benson walked two batters and grazed two others with pitches, forcing in a run.
 
It was all Linfield after that as the 'Cats quickly made the score 4-1 after three innings, then scored six runs in the fourth to put the game out of reach.
 
Next
The two teams wrap up their four-game NWC series Sunday at WU Softball Field with a doubleheader starting at noon.