MARSHALL, Texas – Linfield's quest for a third national title ended abruptly on Saturday, the result of a back-and-forth battle with top-seeded Belhaven in the championship game of the NCAA Division III Marshall Regional.
Solo home runs by Marlee Blackwell and Ellie Jones in the fifth inning broke a 3-all standoff and carried the Blazers to a 5-3 victory over the Northwest Conference champions. Linfield finished the three-day regional tournament with two wins and two losses, with three of those contests coming against teams ranked among the top seven programs in Division III.
Linfield ended its season with a record of 38-9. Belhaven, now 41-6 after going 3-0 at the regional tournament, advances to play the winner of the Texas Lutheran vs. Chapman regional next weekend.
Linfield got off to a decent start, plating the game's initial run on a RBI double in the first inning by
Brynn Nelson. Belhaven answered with two runs of its own in the second stanza, the first coming on a sacrifice RBI by Macy Ziskin and the latter an RBI single that enabled Kennedy Carruth to score.
The Wildcats tied the contest at 2 on an RBI double to left-center field by
Claire Seats that scored
Baily Paul from third base.
Each team pushed across runs in the fourth inning. The Wildcats scored on
Jacey Leyvas' RBI single up the middle that allowed
Kamryn Mobley to reach home, but Carruth took advantage of gusting winds to push a home run over the fence in the bottom of the inning, tying the game once more.
Linfield had a golden opportunity turn the game in its favor in the top of the fifth. With Seats at third base and Mobley at second,
Abi Proffitt's deep ball to the outfield came within five feet of clearing the wall.
Belhaven made its move after that. Blackwell led off the bottom of the fifth with her game-winning blast, then Jones added an insurance marker two batters later.
Seats went 2 for 4 but the Wildcats were held to five hits. Seats also made an over-the-shoudler catch to limit further damage in the sixth inning, robbing Ziskin of a sure double.
Wildcats starter
Tayah Kelley (25-5) threw 117 pitches over six innings in the Texas heat. She gave up seven hits and four walks but did register four strikeouts.
Carruth earned the pitching win for the Blazers, improving to 26-3. The sophomore went 3 for 3 at the plate and scored two runs. Jones also collected a pair of hits and scored twice.
Named to the Marshall Regional All-Tournament Team from Linfield were
Brynn Nelson,
Abi Proffitt and
Tayah Kelley.
The Wildcats are expected to return to Oregon on Sunday via a chartered aircraft.
