SALEM, Ore. – On a day where the Linfield Wildcats and Willamette Bearcats combined to score 43 runs at John Lewis Field, the Bearcats won 11-8 and 15-9 in the two games on Sunday.
 
The Bearcats took all four games over the Wildcats this weekend and are now 6-2 on the season, the Wildcats drop to 2-6. This weekend's series was a non-conference four game series. Linfield hosts Willamette on April 24-25 as part of the Northwest Conference schedule.
 
GAME 1: Willamette 11, Linfield 8
Willamette had runners on the corners in the first inning with one out when Michael Nelson cleared them with a three-run home run to left field.
 
The Wildcats answered right back by loading the bases in the top of the second. Garrett Moen doubled and advanced on the throw to bring home three Wildcats and tie the game. Scoring on the play for Linfield were Cage Hardy, Jackson Horner and Wyatt Smith.
 
With two outs and a runner on base in the bottom of the second, Layton Wagner reached base on a fielding error by Linfield. Samuel Daly followed up with another three-run home run for Willamette, this one went to right field.
 
Willamette hit another three-run long shot in the fourth off the bat of Luke Werkmeister-Martin. The 3-4-5 hitters for the Bearcats had three-run home runs each. Willamette extended its lead to 11-3 in the fourth on a two-run single by Sean Little.
 
Wildcats scored the final five runs of the game. In the fifth, Tanner Jacques scored on a single by Reid Sturn, Mike LaVigne came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Levi Horner-Villa in the fifth as well.
 
Treve Earhart added two more runs for Linfield in the fifth, driving in Sturn and his older brother, Tanner Earhart. LaVigne hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to bring home Treve Earhart.
 
Sturn and Moen had two hits each. Moen led the team with three RBIs, Treve Earhart had two.
 
Grant Knox was the starter for the Wildcats, he lasted two innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits and a walk. Callan McRae and Cameron Skinner combined for 4.2 shutout innings.
 
Willamette' starter Justin Miller gave up four earned runs on eight hits and punched out six Wildcats. He only lasted 4.2 innings, one out away from being eligible to get the win. Mason Cook tossed the final 4.1 innings and got the win, giving up one run on two hits. No walks were surrendered by the Bearcats in game one.
 
GAME 2: Willamette 15, Linfield 9 (Seven Innings)
Nelson hit his second three-run home run of the day in the first inning of the second game to give Willamette a 3-0 lead. He had nine RBIs on the afternoon.
 
Jackson Horner drove in Wyatt Smith for the Wildcats' first run of the game on an RBI base hit in the second. The Wildcats tied the game in the third on an RBI single by Sturn that scored Jacques and an RBI double to left field from Ben Ranieri, that brought home LaVigne.
 
Sturn and Ranieri scored on sacrifice-flies by Horner-Villa and Horner to give Linfield a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the third.
 
The Bearcats six runs in the third to take a 9-5 lead. Ethan Fischel hit a solo home run, Tyler Vandemark drove in two, Nelsen drove in two, Werkmeister-Martin hit a two-run home run to center field.
 
Six more runs were scored by Willamette in the fourth. First run came on a fielding error, Daly drove in the next run, Nelsen hit an RBI single to make it 13-5. Fischel had a two-run base hit in the inning.
 
Horner-Villa hit his third home run of the season in the fifth, he is the only Wildcat with a home run thus far this season. Sturn collected two more RBIs in the sixth, bringing home Jackson Horner and Chase Elliott. Horner-Villa brought home Danny Kahn for the 43^rd run of the day via a single to the pitcher.
 
Neither starter went past the second inning in game two. Linfield's starter Braden Thorn gave up three runs on three hits and got a no-decision. Bearcats' Eric Waldichuk allowed five runs in two innings on four hits.
 
Evan Bates was credited with the loss for the Wildcats, he gave up five runs in an inning. JD Willis was the winning pitcher of game two. He tossed three innings and gave up just one run.
 
UP NEXT
Conference play begins on the road for Linfield at Puget Sound for a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14. The scheduled start times for game one on both days is 12 p.m.