McMINNVILLE, Ore.- An offensive boom and strong pitching gave the Linfield Wildcats the 11-3 victory over the Puget Sound Loggers on Friday night at Roy Helser Field.
 
Freshman Cameron Skinner got the start on the mound for Linfield and threw another strong four innings in his first year for Linfield. Skinner allowed five hits and one run in the start. He also struck out two and left the game with the lead.
 
Puget Sound got two on to open the game. After a hit and a walk, Skinner induced a ground ball to get a force-out at third. A strike out from Skinner prevented any damage being done from the Loggers.
 
In the bottom half of the opening inning, Ben Whitt led off with a double to instantly put the the 'Cats in business. After Tanner Earhart was hit with a pitch from starter Davis Miller, Linfield had runners on first and third, David Brosius roped a single into right to score Whitt.
 
Puget Sound got two, one-out base runners in the second before a walk from Skinner loaded the bases. A fielder's choice off the bat of Kyle Strash tied the score at one. But the Linfield righty forced a ground out from Hunter Riley to end the threat.
 
Cody Stevenson drew a one out walk and pinch-hitter Ben Ranieri singled to make it runners on first and third in the bottom of the second. A ground out moved two runners into scoring positon and Tanner Jacques cashed in with a double to score two runs to make it 3-1.
 
In the bottom of the fifth Linfield got three straight hits from Earhart, Brosius and Wyatt Smith to load the bases. Garret Moen sacrificed home with a fly ball and then with two outs, Levi Horner-Villa singled to left field to score two more runs.
 
Ranieri opened up the six with a single and Ben Whitt followed suit. Jacques walked to load the bases and Brosius had a walk of his own for an RBI. A passed ball allowed Jacques to score, making it 7-1.
 
In the seventh Andrew Del Biaggio ran into some trouble. A lead off error was followed up by an RBI double from Hunter Riley. Another error and a single from Corey Roberts forced across another unearned run. Samuel Adams came on and struck out the next two hitters to thwart the Puget Sound threat.
 
Stevenson was hit by a pitch in the seventh and moved up to third on back-to-back wild pitches and Jacques again was clutch for Linfield, singling in the eighth run for Linfield. In the bottom of the eighth, Linfield finished the job scoring three runs courtesy of an RBI single from Stevenson and a two-RBI single from Ranieri. Colton Robinson came on in the ninth and stuck out two of the three hitters he faced to close out the game.
 
Ben Ranieri led the charge for Linfield with three hits and two RBIs. Tanner Jacques was the RBI guy with three to lead the team to go along with three hits. Brosius had two hits and two RBIs and Wyatt Smith also had two hits.
 
Del Biaggio (1-1) recorded his first Linfield win with two and a third innings of quality ball. The freshman struck out two and allowed two unearned runs. Adams and Robinson were stellar out of the 'pen again with two and two-thirds innings of one hit ball, with sixth strikeouts between the two.
 
Davis Miller (0-1) took his first loss of the year, allowing five runs in just over four innings of work. Hunter Riley led the team offensively with two hits and an RBI.
 
UP NEXT
Linfield (3-2) hosts Pacific Lutheran (1-0) on Sunday at noon. The second game of the doubleheader will follow shortly after the conclusion of game one.