McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Kamryn Apling pounded four hits and pitchers Maddy Podnar and Jordan Bennett combined to hold Pacific to a single run over 14 innings as the third-ranked Linfield Wildcats swept a Northwest Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Del Smith Stadium.
 
Winning by scores of 4-1 and 4-0, Linfield raised its season record to 8-0 and 2-0 in the NWC. Pacific slid to 4-9 and 0-2 in conference play.
 
The twinbill was marked by multiple stoppages of play as bands of rain and hail passed through the area.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 4, Pacific 1
Podnar struck out four batters and scattered three hits on the way to her fourth pitching victory the season. Podnar went the distance in the pitching circle, holding the Boxers to a single run.
 
Makenna Clizer went 2 for 3, including a double, to lead Linfield at the plate.
 
Apling broke the ice in the second inning with a line-drive single to right field that scored pinch runner Rachel Anderson from third base. In the next inning, Kelsey Wilkinson made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single.
 
Pacific trimmed the margin to 2-1 in the sixth after Taylor Nishimura reached base on an error, opening the door for pinch runner Jordyn Duntley to score from second.
 
Linfield added a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Wildcats patched together an error, a walk and a stolen base to set up a RBI single from Abi Proffitt. Moments later, Brooke Snyder tapped a single, allowing pinch runner Kamryn Mobley to score the game's final run.
 
The Wildcats totaled six hits to the Boxers' three. Pacific made four errors in the contest and Linfield was charged with three miscues.
 
GAME 2: Linfield 4, Pacific 0
Bennett tossed a complete-game three-hitter in her collegiate home debut, leading the Wildcats to the shutout victory in the nightcap. The freshman righthander from San Jose, Calif., improved to 2-0 in the circle.
 
Linfield got the jump on Pacific and never looked back. A triple by Wilkinson in the third set the table for Katie Phillips' RBI single to make the score 1-0.
 
Linfield plated two runs in the fourth, as Apling led off the inning with a double and Chelsea Horita followed with another double that scored Apling. A sacrifice RBI by Jocie Newton allowed Horita to score and the Wildcats led 3-0.
 
Phillips then launched her first round-tripper of the season in the fifth. Phillips was 2 for 2 at the plate and Apling went 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles to pace an eight-hit Linfield effort.
 
Rylee Patton (2-1) took the loss for Pacific. She allowed six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings of work. Hailey Miller, Hannah Williams and Kiana Kushiyama accounted for the Boxers' three base hits.
 
NEXT
The teams return to Del Smith Stadium for a doubleheader Sunday. The original start time of 11 a.m. has been pushed back to 12 p.m. to allow the field more time to dry.