McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Senior Day ended the way Senior Days should.
Linfield fell 9-6 to Willamette in the opener but continued its late-game magic to walk it off on the Bearcats for the second time in as many days in the 3-1 nightcap. The Wildcats took the finale and the series thanks to a game-winning three-run blast off the bat of
Danny Kahn.
The Linfield baseball program honored seven seniors before first pitch:
Jackson Horner,
Andrew Del Biaggio,
Branden Pasion,
Garrett Moen,
Cameron Skinner,
Braden Thorn and
Cage Hardy.
GAME 2: Willamette 9, Linfield 6
The ninth inning has shown success for Linfield in recent memory. The Wildcats scored four runs on as many hits in the final frame, but the deficit was too large to overcome.
Skinner went 3 for 4 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning and an RBI double in the ninth. Moen collected three hits of his own and scored twice.
Jake Hoskins drove Moen home on an RBI double in the seventh, and Kahn added a ninth-inning base knock that sent two more runs across the plate in the ninth.
Del Biaggio threw a perfect first inning in his third appearance of the season and first since Feb. 11 at La Verne.
Braden Thorn was hit with the loss after allowing three runs in the second inning.
Aidan McCann allowed one run but didn't give up a hit in three innings of work.
GAME 3: Linfield 3, Willamette 1
A pitchers' duel broke out between Linfield's
Casey Struckmeier and Willamette's EJ McGrew. The freshman Struckmeier tossed another gem, holding the Bearcats scoreless in 6 1/3 innings pitched, allowing four hits. McGrew also had a scoreless outing in 4 1/3 innings.
The game was scoreless after seven innings until Jonny Suchor broke the silence with a bases-loaded RBI ground out to put the Bearcats on the board.
Hoskins sparked a one-out rally with a double down the right-field line, his second two-bagger of the day. The Bearcats put the winning run aboard when
Tyler Marr was hit by a pitch from Logan Haslam. But it didn't matter, as Kahn sent a shot over the fence in right field for his first homer of the season.
Hoskins and Marr both went 3 for 4 while Kahn and Pasion had two hits apiece. Marr notched five hits in the doubleheader.
Gavin Ludlow earned his second win of the season in relief of Struckmeier, allowing the one run on two hits in 2 2/3 innings.
NEXT
Linfield finishes Northwest Conference play at 12-24 overall with an 8-16 conference mark. While the Wildcats won't be advancing to next week's NWC Tournament, a strong finish to the NWC slate is all they could've asked for.
The 2023 season closes on Tuesday as the 'Cats will host Bushnell at 4 p.m. in their second meeting of the year.
