The Linfield baseball team hosts Northwest Conference-leading Whitman this weekend at Roy Helser Field. The two teams are scheduled to play doubleheaders both Friday and Saturday starting at noon.
 
COVERAGE
Joe Stuart is on the call for all four games on the Linfield Sports Network. Live statistics are also available.
 
LINFIELD
The Wildcats are 2-8 in conference play thus far this season and 4-14 overall. Last week, Linfield won Game 1 on Sunday over Whitworth in Spokane, Washington. Linfield is batting .246 as a team and scoring 4.3 runs per game.
 
Reid Sturn is the team's batting leader, hitting.365, with three doubles and nine RBIs. Tanner Earhart hit .462 last weekend against the Pirates with six hits and a stolen base. He also hit a two-run home run. Levi Horner-Villa is the team's home runs (3) and RBIs (10) leader.
 
Sam Adams has 10 strikeouts while posting an ERA of 3.38 in 5.1 innings pitched this spring. Skyler Manelski earned the win on Sunday, pitching 3.1 innings. Gage Mack leads the team with 18 strikeouts. Andrew Del Biaggio is third in strikeouts with 12.
 
In 170 meetings against the Blues, the Wildcats are 145-25. They average 8.84 runs per game in the meetings.
 
WHITMAN
The Blues have a record of 6-2 this season, they have played four fewer games than the Pacific Boxers but are tied for the conference lead. The conference championship will be decided by winning percentage this season.
 
Whitman was the odd team out of the schedule last week. The Blues took three out of four at home against Whitworth the week before. The Blues' team batting average of .306 is third in the conference. They lead the NWC with an on-base percentage of .423.
 
The Whitman pitching staff is striking out 8.53 batters per nine innings which is second in the conference. The Blues own a combined ERA of 5.83.
 
Ben Parker is batting .400, sixth in the conference, and he has eight RBIs and two home runs. Kevin Nakamura is tied for eighth with 17 RBIs. David Johnson has hit five home runs.
 
Mateus Conaway (3.06) and Dexter Aichele (3.28) are sixth and seventh, respectively, on the list of conference ERA leaders. Travis Craven (10.71), Conaway (10.70) and Julien Hernandez (10.13) are among the top-five pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings.
 
UP NEXT
Linfield is off next weekend before taking on Pacific in Forest Grove, Oregon, on April 17-18.