NEWBERG, Ore. –
Tayah Kelley and
Tyler Warden earned matching complete-game pitching victories, and
Katie Phillips produced four hits for the sixth-ranked Linfield Wildcats, who swept a Northwest Conference doubleheader from the George Fox Bruins at Morse Field on Sunday.
Moving to 11-1 in NWC play, Linfield opened up a commanding four-game lead in the league standings as the teams approach the midway point. The Wildcats boosted their overall record to 19-3.
Winning just one game from Linfield over the four-game weekend series, George Fox watched its record dip to 14-8 overall and 9-5 in the NWC.
GAME 1: Linfield 3, George Fox 1
A bases-loaded walk and a two-run single by
Brynn Nelson provided all the scoring the Wildcats needed to push past the Bruins in the opener.
Leadoff hitter Sydney Sandifer broke the ice in the third inning with a solo home run to put the Bruins in front 1-0. The Wildcats countered by plating all three of their runs in the top of the fourth inning, then leaned on Kelley to hold the defending NWC champions scoreless the rest of the way.
Kelley turned in another outstanding performance, striking out 11 Bruins and walking two while scattering three hits. The junior righthander improved to 12-0 for the season.
Kelley's counterpart, GFU righty Ashley Davis, was handed her second defeat in as many days after a 10-1 start. Davis held the Wildcats to four hits and one walk, but the bases-loaded walk issued to
Emma Podliska and Nelson's single shortly thereafter proved to be the difference in the contest.
Phillips accounted for two of Linfield's four hits. Podliksa and Nelson provided the other two base taps.
GAME 2: George Fox 8, Linfield 4
Phillips, Podliska,
Abi Proffitt and
Kaili Saathoff all pounded a pair of hits, part of a 12-hit effort by the Wildcats in the series' closing contest.
After George Fox had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Linfield erupted for five runs in the second, highlighted by an RBI single from Proffitt and a two-run double by
Claire Seats.
Warden rebounded from a Saturday loss to the Bruins to collect her fourth win of 2022. She struck out four GFU batters, walked one and gave up seven hits.
Linfield opened an 8-1 advantage through 4½ innings, only to watch as the Bruins notched a single run in the bottom of the fifth and back-to-back solo home runs by Sandifer and Emma Claussen in the bottom of the seventh.
Sandifer went 2 for 4 and scored three times to lead the Bruins offensively.
Bruins starter Elise Wilkinson took the loss. She lasted just 1 2/3 innings before being relived in favor of Emma Eastman. The two GFU pitchers failed to log a single strikeout in the game. Both allowed six hits and the pair combined to issue three walks.
NEXT
With spring break already underway, Linfield plays a mid-week doubleheader at Lewis & Clark on Tuesday starting at 11 a.m. The Wildcats then host La Verne in a non-conference twinbill on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
