MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – With fans in attendance at Roy Helser Field for the first time this spring, the Linfield Wildcats lost both games of the doubleheader to the Willamette Bearcats by scores of 6-1 and 7-2, respectively on Friday.
GAME 1: Willamette 6, Linfield 1
The Bearcats took their first lead of the game in the second on a single by Michael Nelsen that scored Ethan Fischel. The Wildcats though, tied the game in the bottom of the second on an RBI base hit by
Tanner Earhart, that scored
Levi Horner-Villa.
On the hit by Earhart,
Wyatt Smith tried to score, but was tagged out at home and Earhart was tagged out trying to take second base.
Willamette retook the lead in the fourth on a two-run home run by Jeff Hoffman, scoring on the play was Fischel. Layton Wagner hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and Fischel hit another sacrifice fly in the sixth to make it 6-1. Wagner scored in the eighth with the bases loaded when Fischel was hit by a pitch.
Linfield had the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth, but failed to score a run.
Smith went 3 for 4 in game one, Horner-Villa and Earhart went 2 for 3. Luke Wermeister-Martin had two hits for Willamette.
Wagner started the game for the Bearcats and got his seventh win of the season, throwing seven innings and giving up a run on seven hits, no walks and seven strikeouts. JD Willis pitched the final two innings.
The Wildcats used four pitchers in game one.
Gage Mack was on the mound to start the game and got credited with the loss. He gave up just two hits on five innings but surrendered four runs.
Jarrett Allen pitched a shutout 1.2 innings to end the game.
GAME 2: Willamette 7, Linfield 2
Willamette came into the weekend as the NCAA Division III leader in home runs with 55 in 2021. Fischel hit a home run in the first to center field, just above the reach of Linfield's
Garrett Moen. Sean Little scored on the home run by Fischel.
Linfield once again came back and tied the game in the bottom of the first. Horner-Villa drove in
Reid Sturn, who led off the inning with a walk and
Mike LaVigne, who hit an infield single, to make it 2-2 after one.
Joey Faudskar drove in Nelsen in the second on a ground out to make it 3-2. Samuel Daly made it 4-2 in the third on a single that scored Little. Faudskar collected his second RBI of the game in the fourth and a single that once again scored Nelsen.
The Bearcats took a 6-2 lead in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Vandemark that plated Hoffman. Nelsen drew a bases loaded walk for the final run of the day, touching home plate on the play was Werkmeister-Martin.
Four Bearcats had two hits in game two, while LaVigne had two of the four hits for the Wildcats.
The winning pitcher in game two was Justin Miller, who had two runs in six innings on four hits. Matt Pisacane tossed a shut out seventh inning.
Andrew Del Biaggio got the loss for Linfield, he gave up four earned runs on eight hits.
Linfield is 6-22 this spring and 4-16 in the Northwest Conference. Willamette is 25-9 overall and 19-7 in conference play.
UP NEXT
Weather permitting, the two teams are scheduled to play another doubleheader on Saturday at 12 noon at Roy Helser Field.
