McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Big players come up clutch in big situations, and multiple Wildcats had their moments in a doubleheader sweep of George Fox Saturday afternoon at Roy Helser Field.
Linfield tallied 10 runs on 21 hits on the day.
Tanner Jacques and
Ryan Kamp each racked up four hits in the afternoon while lefty
Colton Meyer picked up the save in each end of the twinbill.
With the win, the Wildcats jumped into second place in the Northwest Conference standings behind Pacific. They will have a chance to earn a sweep of the Bruins in Sunday's finale.
GAME 1: Linfield 4, George Fox 2
Kamp went 3 for 4 and drove in the go-ahead run to spark a two-run victory for the Wildcats over their cross-county foes.
George Fox put up two runs in the third inning on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Breyndon Nakamura and a sacrifice fly to center field by Jeremy Sangalang.
Linfield punched back in the bottom half of the frame. The Wildcats got on the board on a Jacques RBI single to right that scored Kamp, who led off the inning with a double down the left field line.
Mike LaVigne followed with a single before
Branden Pasion walked to load the bases.
Daniel Kahn ripped an RBI single to right to drive in Jacques for the second run of the inning.
Jacob Campos doubled to left-center to start the eighth-inning rally. Kamp stepped into the box later in the inning, sending Campos home on a single down the left field line to break the tie before scoring on an RBI double by
Garrett Moen to give the 'Cats an insurance run.
Jacques, LaVigne and Moen all collected two hits as the 'Cats outhit the Bruins 12-4. Jared Gee led George Fox with a 2-for-3 performance.
George Fox starter Sean Wiese went seven innings in a no-decision. He allowed two earned runs on nine hits while striking out five. Alex Abbott took the loss after allowing the two runs in the eighth inning.
Jackson Koons allowed two runs, one earned, in five innings of work before handing the ball to
Skyler Manelski, who went three scoreless innings to improve to 2-0 on the season, allowing just one hit. Meyer fanned one batter in the ninth inning to secure his fourth save of the season.
GAME 2: Linfield 6, George Fox 3
Jacques drove in four runs and Campos notched his first home run of the season as the 'Cats stormed back for the three-run win over the team from Newberg. It was Campos' second career homer and first since 2019.
George Fox struck first again with a two-run bomb to left field by Shane White. Campos countered with his solo shot to left in the bottom half of the inning to cut the deficit to one. An unearned run scored on a groundout would be the last run of the game for the Bruins.
Jacques and Moen took over the game down the stretch. Jacques drove in
Brett Joner with an RBI single in the fifth and then came around to score on an RBI double by Moen. Jacques then came up with the bases loaded in the sixth and broke the 3-3 tie with a three-run double off the center field fence to make it 6-3 in favor of the 'Cats.
Jacques went 2 for 4 with a run and four RBI while Joner went 2 for 3 and scored twice. Noah Meffert was the only Bruin with a multi-hit performance.
Andrew Del Biaggio tossed five innings and limited George Fox to three runs, two earned.
Gage Mack allowed one hit over two innings to pick up his first win of the season while Meyer went the rest of the way to shut the door on save No. 5. Meyer leads the 'Cats with a 1.74 ERA.
NEXT
Linfield (16-3, 12-8) will celebrate Senior Day on Sunday with first pitch set for noon. The team will send off the talents of
Sam Adams,
Evan Bates,
Jacob Campos,
Cole Hoskins,
Tanner Jacques,
Ryan Kamp,
Brannan Meriwether,
Colton Meyer,
Noah Pawlowski and
Wyatt Smith.
