McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Shelby Saylors earned two pitching wins and Chelsea Horita delivered a game-winning RBI in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 2 to lift the 10th-ranked Linfield Wildcats over the Whitworth Pirates in a key Northwest Conference showdown Saturday at Del Smith Stadium.
 
Defending NWC champion Linfield (24-4-1, 17-1 NWC) stretched its winning to 10 games, topping rival Whitworth by scores of 12-0 and 3-2. The opening game was abbreviated to five innings by the eight-run rule.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 12, Whitworth 0, 5 innings
Saylors struck out eight Pirates and held Whitworth scoreless in a one-hit virtuoso performance in the series opener.
 
Saylors' teammates more than backed her up with enough offense. Linfield pounded a dozen hits, including three home runs against three different Whitworth pitchers.
 
Maddy Colson and Kelsey Wilkinson accounted for three hits each while Makenna Clizer, Paige Smotherman and Abi Proffitt all swatted balls out the the park to punctuate the one-sided result.
 
Saylors picked up her 12th win of the season against three losses.
 
Linfield scored multiple runs in the four innings it batted in, including a five-run explosion in the fourth that was highlighted by home runs from Clizer, her fourth of the season, and Proffitt, her seventh.
 
The game did not begin well for Whitworth and then spiraled from there. Linfield tapped three straight singles to start the game, loading the bases on Pirates starter Madelyn Carlson. Clizer drew a walk, forcing home Katie Phillips for the game's first run. Wilkinson then scored on an error by Whitworth third baseman Michelle Silva. A wild pitch by Carlson enabled Clizer to beat the tag at the plate, pushing Linfield's lead to 3-0.
 
The second and third innings saw the Wildcats add two runs each. Smotherman knocked out her team-leading ninth home run of the season in the third.
 
Carlson (8-5) took the loss. She allowed seven hits and two walks before being replaced by Kylie Harris to begin the third inning. Desi Graham was credited with the Pirates' lone hit, a double in the third.
 
GAME 2: Linfield 3, Whitworth 2
Horita drilled a single to left-center field in the bottom of the seventh inning, driving home pinch runner Alana Nuttman for the winning run.
 
The Wildcats twice overcame one-run deficits as well as stellar pitching by Pirates freshman Drea Schwaier-Wolf to complete the doubleheader sweep.
 
Darian Stedman smacked her eighth home run of the season in the fourth inning, tying the game at 1. After Whitworth went back in front 2-1 in the fifth on a run-scoring triple from Kinsey McNaught, the 'Cats pulled even once more on a RBI double from Kamryn Apling.
 
Saylors (13-3) pitched the win in relief of starter Tanna Benson, who scattered six hits and struck out three batters in four innings of work.
 
Smotherman and Apling each had two hits to lead the Wildcats offensively.
 
Schwaier-Wolf suffered just her second defeat in 13 pitching decisions. She allowed six hits and a pair of walks, but did not log a single strikeout.
 
Next
The Wildcats and Pirates (20-7, 14-3 NWC) are scheduled to play a doubleheader Sunday at noon at Del Smith Stadium.