Riding a 17-game winning streak, the No. 1-ranked Linfield Wildcats take on the Puget Sound Loggers for four games this weekend in Tacoma, Washington. Start time is 12 noon on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday.
 
COVERAGE
Puget Sound is making available live stats and live video for the games this weekend.
 
THE WILDCATS
Linfield is 8-0 in Northwest Conference play. The Wildcats have won 48 straight meetings over Puget Sound. Batting .333 as a team and scoring 8.1 runs per game, Linfield boasts three players who have more than 20 RBIs: Emma Podliska (23), Abi Proffitt (22) and Baily Paul. Podliska also leads the team with three home runs.
 
The Wildcats top the conference in scoring, batting average, doubles (41), steals (38) and on-base percentage (.420). Kamryn Apling is eighth in the conference in batting average (.415) and second in on-base percentage (.661). Kelsey Wilkinson has 12 steals, Katie Phillips is second in the conference with 27 hits.
 
The pitching staff is right at top of the conference as well. The team ERA of 2.64 ranks second and the Wildcats' strikeouts-per-seven-innings of 5.82 leads the conference. Maddy Podnar, this week's NWC Pitching Student-Athlete of the week, has the second lowest ERA in the league (2.20). Tayah Kelley is third with an ERA of 3.27.
 
Kelley is first with 49 punchouts, Podnar is second with 43. Both pitchers have eight wins; the next closest player in the conference has five. Jordan Bennett has made nine appearances. She has 10 strikeouts and three wins to her credit.
 
A four-game sweep of the Loggers would guarantee a winning season for the Wildcats for a 23^rd consecutive year.
 
THE LOGGERS
Puget Sound is 4-4 in conference play and 4-8 overall. The Loggers' four non-conference losses came at the hands of a pair of upper-division programs: Western Washington and Eastern Washington. The offense is batting .317 as a team and has a slugging percentage of .464. The Loggers' on-base percentage of .413 ranks second in the NWC.
 
Hana DeGuzman is third in the conference with a batting average of .439. Mikayla Newman is seventh with a .417 batting average. Kelsie Sullivan is seventh with five RBIs.
 
Puget Sound pitchers have 44 strikeouts in 74.2 innings pitched. Maddy Garcia has a strikeouts-per-seven-innings average of 5.89.
 
UP NEXT
Linfield returns to Del Smith Stadium to host Lewis & Clark for a four-game series April 10-11.