McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield tried to claw back in the end, but it wasn't enough in a 6-4 loss to George Fox in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Roy Helser Field.
George Fox scored in four straight innings to avoid a sweep. The game was scoreless until the Bruins put up three runs in the fifth inning on an infield error and RBI singles by Jared Miller and Jeremy Sangalang. The Bruins tacked on another run in the sixth on an RBI single to third base by Spencer Roos. Roos and Jared Gee collected three hits apiece while Noah Meffert had two.
Linfield scored three in the sixth to cut the deficit to one run.
Daniel Kahn scored the first run on a sacrifice fly to center field by
Ryan Kamp.
Brett Joner drove in two more on a two-run single to center.
The Bruins scored runs in the seventh and eighth innings to make it 6-3 heading into the last inning. The Wildcats sent one run across the plate on a sacrifice fly by
Branden Pasion, but Meffert, who moved from designated hitter to pitcher in the sixth inning, buckled down for the Bruins to earn his third save of the season.
Meffert went 3 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on two hits while striking out four. Ben Wills threw 5 2/3 to improve to 5-3 on the season. He gave up three runs on nine hits.
Mike LaVigne led the Linfield bats with a 3-for-5 performance to go with a run. Pasion,
Jacob Campos and Joner all finished with two hits.
John Over took the loss after allowing three runs, two earned, while
Nick Alder gave up two runs as he battled the rain.
Sam Adams tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings in what could've been the final home game of his collegiate career.
Linfield celebrated the careers of 10 graduating seniors in
Sam Adams,
Evan Bates,
Jacob Campos,
Cole Hoskins,
Tanner Jacques,
Ryan Kamp,
Brannan Meriwether,
Colton Meyer,
Noah Pawlowski and
Wyatt Smith. Despite the loss, friends, family and fans honored the academic and athletic accomplishments of those seniors.
NEXT
Linfield is tied for second place with Pacific Lutheran at 16-14 overall and 12-9 in Northwest Conference play. They will play a non-conference game at Pacific on Wednesday before heading up I-5 to play at Pacific Lutheran on Friday and Saturday. The NWC Tournament will be hosted by the regular-season champion on April 22-24.
