For the first time in the 2021 season, the Linfield Wildcats baseball team is playing in front of fans at Roy Helser Field this weekend against Willamette.
 
Due to inclement weather, first day of the series has been moved up to Friday at 12 p.m. and the second day is currently scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m.
 
COVERAGE
Live video and live statistics are available.
 
THE WILDCATS
Linfield is 4-14 in Northwest Conference games and 6-20 overall. This past weekend, the Wildcats took on Pacific, which currently leading the NWC. That series was the second consecutive series in which the Wildcats were taking on the team that sat atop the NWC standings.
 
The Wildcats bashed 16 runs in Game 1 on Sunday against the Boxers to win 16-7. Linfield scored the first four runs of the game, then after after falling 7-4, the 'Cats scored the last 12 runs of the game
 
Levi Horner-Villa and Mike LaVigne had five RBIs on the weekend. Horner-Villa also hit a three-run home run on Saturday. He leads the team with 15 RBIs, Tanner Earhart is second with 13 and LaVigne is third with 12. Jackson Horner has the best batting average (.333) on the team and has 10 RBIs as does Reid Sturn.
 
The Wildcats' starting rotation is made up Andrew Del Biaggio, Gage Mack and Grant Knox. Mack is 2-3 with 24 strikeouts, Del Biaggio has 18 strikeouts. Callan McRae got the win on Sunday, pitching 3.1 shutout innings. Sam Adams has an ERA of 2.16 in seven relief appearances, which is best on the team.
 
Linfield owns a 120-71-1 all-time record against Willamette. The Wildcats took two of three games from the Bearcats last season.
 
THE BEARCATS
Willamette has won nine straight and is currently third in the NWC standings at 17-7, a .708 winning percentage. Willamette won all four games earlier this season against Linfield in Salem, though the games did not count towards the conference record.
 
WU slugger Samuel Daly is leading the conference with a batting average of .439. He is also second in the NWC with 11 home runs and third with 42 RBIs. Michael Nelsen also has 42 RBIs and leads the NWC with 12 home runs.
 
Ethan Fischel is fourth in the NWC with 37 RBIs. He has hit nine home runs, which rank third. Sean Little is batting .417, fourth-best in the NWC. Jeff Hoffman has also hit nine home runs.
 
Layton Wagner has posted an ERA of 2.38, second-lowest in the NWC. His 45 strikeouts rank third the NWC. Eric Waldichuk has 39 strikeouts, which is fourth. Relief pitcher Brady Joyner leads the conference with four saves.
 
UP NEXT
Linfield heads over to George Fox to play the Bruins on April 30 and May 3.