SPOKANE, Wash. – Linfield emphatically put the finishing touches on its second straight Northwest Conference softball championship on Thursday, thumping host Whitworth 13-0 and 14-2. The victories secured the program's 18th league crown and fourth in the last five seasons, not counting the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
Winners of 12 straight games, the streaking Wildcats (31-3, 21-1 NWC) surpassed the 30-win plateau for the 19th consecutive season. Linfield swept Whitworth in each of the four makeup games at Diana Marks Field, outscoring the hosts by a combined margin of 48-11.
Eight Wildcats accounted for at least two hits in the doubleheader. All-America outfielder
Katie Phillips led the way by going 6 for 8 at the plate with three doubles, a home run, seven RBI and six runs scored.
Freshman designated player
Ashlyn Aven totaled four hits for the 'Cats while sophomore all-stars
Claire Seats and
Brynn Nelson both pounded five hits. Nelson and
Ashley Sutton each contributed home runs.
GAME 1: Linfield 13, Whitworth 0, 5 innings
Tayah Kelley chalked up her 19th straight pitching win. The senior windmiller struck out three Pirates, enough to lift her to No. 2 on Linfield's career strikeouts ladder, surpassing graduated All-American Karina Paavola. Kelley (553 Ks) now trails only Hall of Famer Brittany Miller (632).
The Wildcats outhit the Pirates 13-2. Seats went 3 for 4 with four RBIs to lead the way offensively. Linfield plated four runs in the third, three more in the fourth, then delivered a six-run knockout punch in the fifth.
GAME 2: Linfield 14, Whitworth 2
Wildcats starter
Tyler Warden earned her second win of the series and 12th of the season. Though she gave up 10 hits over the first six innings, the junior righthander limited the collateral damage to just two runs, both coming in the third inning after Linfield had already built a 5-0 advantage.
Linfield amassed 19 hits to Whitworth's 11. Phillips logged four hits, including a home run, scoring three times and driving home four runs. Nelson and Sutton both added homers of the their own while registering three RBIs.
AHEAD
With more rain expected for late in the weekend, the Wildcats have shifted their Sunday games at Pacific to Friday at 4 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader at Linfield's Del Smith Stadium will move back two hours to 2 p.m. The Wildcats' 10 matriculating seniors and graduate students will be recognized on the field prior to Saturday's first pitch.
Additionally, Linfield is slated to make up a pair of postponed contests at Puget Sound this coming Tuesday. The first game, suspended in the fifth inning on April 8, will begin at 4 p.m. Game 2 will follow immediately afterward to complete that four-game series.
