McMINNVILLE, Ore. – After strong pitching performances in the first five innings of Sunday's game, the wheels fell off and the Linfield Wildcats fell to the Pacific Boxers 22-2 at Roy Helser Field. Pacific won two of the three games in the series, with Linfield taking game two Saturday 8-4.
Wyatt Smith started on the mound and threw two innings of one hit ball without allowing a run.
Andrew Del Biaggio followed that up with an inning of scoreless relief and struck out one in the third inning.
Evan Bates worked a scoreless inning as well as
Austin Thomas, with Thomas striking out one and neither allowing a hit.
Linfield scored the first run of the game in the third inning.
Tanner Jacques doubled to open the inning and moved to third on a ground out by
Ben Ranieri. Smith helped out his own cause with a sacrifice fly to score Jacques and make the score 1-0, Linfield.
The Wildcats scored in the fifth in similar fashion to that of the fourth. Jacques got the 'Cats going again in the fifth, singling to start the inning. After advancing to third, Smith again scored Jacques, this time on a fielder's choice for Linfield's second run of the game.
The Boxers responded with four straight innings of runs. One came across in the sixth, eight in the seventh and eighth, and five in the ninth.
Two errors, two hit by pitches, and three walks were the Wildcats undoing in the seventh. The Boxers also added three hits in the inning.
The eighth was a hit parade for Pacific, with seven in the inning. Three of those hits went for extra bases, including a home run by Dylan Morgan to score three runs.
In the ninth, Linfield got in their own way again. Two walks and two errors combined with four hits from the opposition netted five more runs. Linfield committed five errors on the game and walked 10, while hitting three batters.
Ben Whit contributed two hits in the loss to go along with the two from Jacques.
Colton Robinson (0-2) took the loss.
Sage Dunaway started for Pacific (7-6, 5-1 in NWC) and allowed two runs over four innings of work. Gavin Bullock (3-0) took the win with three innings of hitless relief after catching game two on Saturday.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats (5-8, 1-5 in NWC) hit the road next weekend against the Willamette Bearcats. First pitch of the double header on Saturday in Salem is at noon. Sunday's game will also have a first pitch at noon.
