SALEM, Ore. – In two tight matchups between the Linfield Wildcats and the Willamette Bearcats at John Lewis Field on Saturday, the Bearcats took both games by scores of 5-2 and 3-2 respectively.
Linfield and Willamette came in with the same record of 2-2 into the weekend. The Bearcats improve to 4-2, the Wildcats are 2-4. This weekend's games between the Bearcats and the Wildcats do not count towards the Northwest Conference records.
GAME 1: Willamette 5, Linfield 2
Colton Meyer was on the bump for the Wildcats, he surrendered just one earned run in five innings on four hits and seven walks. The Silverton, Oregon, native had three strikeouts and got credited with his second loss of the season.
The Bearcats scored the first two runs of the game in the second. Samuel Daly scored on a double play hit by Willamette and Luke Werkmeister-Martin came around to score on a triple by Joey Faudskar, who went for the inside the park home run, but was tagged out at home plate.
In the third inning,
Garrett Moen got on second on a double with two outs. Linfield's leadoff hitter
Tanner Jacques followed up with a double to score Moen.
Mike LaVigne hit the third consecutive double for the Wildcats to score Jacques.
Faudskar drove in Wermeister-Martin in the fourth on a sacrifice fly to retake the lead. Samuel Daly collected the final two RBIs of game one. A single in the fifth scored Layton Wagner and Daly hit a solo home run in the eighth to right center.
Wagner was the starter for Willamette, he is now 2-0 on the young season. On Saturday, he tossed six innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits, one walk and four strikeouts. Matt Pisacane threw three shutout innings to pick up the save.
Jacques and LaVigne had multi-hit games in game one. Moen and
Reid Sturn also hit doubles.
Cameron Skinner and
Chase Elliott collected a stolen base each.
Jarrett Allen threw three innings in relief, striking out two and giving up one run.
GAME 2: Willamette 3, Linfield 2
To imitate how Northwest Conference series will work, the two teams played nine innings in game one and seven in the second.
The Bearcats jumped on the Wildcats' starter
Gage Mack in the first inning. Daly drove in Sean Little on an RBI double and Werkmeister-Martin brought home Daly on a single.
Mack was near perfect after the first inning, giving up no more earned runs, but still picked up his first loss of the season. His line on Saturday was six innings pitched, five hits allowed, five punch outs and no walks allowed.
Linfield came back and tied the game in the second on a solo home run by
Levi Horner-Villa and sacrifice fly by Moen that scored
Jackson Horner.
Wagner stole home plate in the third inning, which was the game-winning run. Willamette starter Ben Witten pitched six innings, giving up two runs, one walk and four hits.
Brady Joyner closed out the seventh inning and got the save with a strikeout and he allowed a hit.
Horner was the lone Wildcat to record a multi-hit game in game two. Five different Bearcats had five different hits for the Bearcats.
UP NEXT
The two teams return to John Lewis Field for a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 11 a.m.
