TACOMA, Wash. – Northwest Conference title challenger Pacific Lutheran handed Linfield just its second league loss, but the Wildcats enjoyed the last laugh Saturday at the PLU diamond.
PLU rallied from behind for a 6-5 win in the opening game of the twinbill before the Wildcats pounded 15 hits on the way to an 11-5 rout in the closing contest.
Linfield (24-6, 16-2 NWC) rode the hot bat of
Katie Phillips, who had five hits and drove in five runs over the course of the two games.
PLU (19-11 11-7 NWC) got five hits on the day from Erin McGrath, including two doubles and a home run.
GAME 1: Pacific Lutheran 6, Linfield 5
A double by McGrath drove in Chaella Galapon for the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning, snapping the Wildcats' 14-game series win streak over the Lutes dating back to 2018.
The Wildcats put runners at third base in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, but each time the Lutes managed to notch the inning-ending out.
Phillips went 3 for 4 in the game and drove in a pair of runs, and
Kamryn Mobley also contributed a pair of hits and drove in a run for Linfield.
Wildcats ace
Tayah Kelley suffered her first NWC defeat of 2022, falling to 15-3 for the season. Kelley pitched the entire game, allowing a season-high 10 hits and six runs, five of which were earned. She did strikeout eight Lutes.
PLU starter Cassidy Conrad picked up the win. She struck out five but also walked five and allowed eight hits over six innings. Reliever Emma Ware earned the save, holding the Wildcats to one hit in the seventh inning.
GAME 2: Linfield 11, Pacific Lutheran 5
Tyler Warden earned a complete-game victory in the circle, and Paul and
Claire Seats each drove in three runs to carry the Wildcats to victory in the nightcap.
Warden (6-1) struck out two batters and walked a pair while scattering eight hits.
Phillips staked Linfield to a quick 2-0 lead with a two-run homer to center field in the top of the first inning.
PLU answered with a sacrifice RBI by Molly House and Casey Wright's double down the right-field line that scored Mari Foster from third base.
A ground-out RBI by Seats in the third enabled Paul to score, giving Linfield a lead it would not surrender.
The 'Cats rolled up three more runs in the fourth, getting a two-run RBI single from Paul and
Kamryn Mobley reach base on a fielder's choice moments later and a fielding error on the same play allowed Phillips to score all the way from second base.
Brynn Nelson made it 8-2, drilling a two-run single through the middle of the infield.
The Lutes added single runs in bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, but that was as close as they would come.
Leading 8-4 in the seventh, the Wildcats added three more runs for good measure, as Phillips and Seats combined to drive in three runs.
McGrath smacked a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late to make a difference in the outcome.
Paul went 3 for 4 and Seats was 3 for 5 to pace the Linfield offense. Mobley and Nelson also added a pair of base knocks, helping Linfield outhit PLU 15-8.
PLU starter Emma Ware (5-2) absorbed the loss. She allowed six hits and three runs during the opening three innings before being replaced by Marley Dyer and Amaya Smith. The three PLU pitchers failed to log a single strikeout.
NEXT
The Wildcats and Lutes are scheduled to complete their four-game series Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
