McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Fighting off elimination twice on their home field, the Linfield Wildcats avenged two recent losses to the George Fox Bruins on the way to claiming the program's 11th Northwest Conference Tournament title.
Pitching phenom
Tayah Kelley limited the Bruins to just a single run over 12 innings on Sunday, leading the Wildcats to 3-1 and 8-0 victories at Del Smith Stadium.
Linfield's offense found its groove on Sunday after being held to three hits against the Bruins the day before.
Claire Seats drove in four of Linfield's runs, going 6 for 7 and
Katrina Johns delivered a game-deciding home run for the second consecutive day.
In addition to the NWC regular-season and conference tournament titles, sixth-ranked Linfield (41-4) secured the fifth 40-win season in program history, though it is the first since 2012 when the Wildcats advanced as far as the NCAA championship game.
GAME 2: Linfield 8, George Fox 0, 6 innings
Bruins starter Ashley Davis, who had shown her masterly of the Linfield hitters a day earlier, lasted just a single out. The graduate student gave up three hits and two runs to the first four batters, then was pulled in favor of Kami Gibson, who eventually yielded to Jenna Kister. The three Bruins pitchers managed to strike out just one Wildcat while surrendering 12 hits.
Seats went 4 for 4 with a double and four RBI, and
Kaili Saathoff went 2 for 3 and scored twice.
The 'Cats pounded five doubles, with Saathoff,
Katie Phillips, Seats,
Brynn Nelson and
Ashley Sutton all contributing one two-bag hit.
Kelley went the distance in the circle during all four of the Wildcats' NWC Tournament games, pushing her season record to 28-1 while raising her career strikeouts to 623.
Davis absorbed both losses on Sunday, falling to 13-9 for the season.
GAME 1: Linfield 3, George Fox 1
Brynn Nelson's two-out single in the first inning plated the game's initial run. After
Baily Paul and Seats each singled, Nelson threaded a line-drive to center field, scoring Paul from second base.
Cydney Hess drew a walk off Davis to load the bases but Sutton popped up into the glove of Bruins catcher Sydney Sandifer for the third out.
Linfield would not relent. On the first at-bat of the second inning, Johns blasted her second home run in as many days to put the 'Cats in front 2-0.
George Fox put two runners on base with two outs in the fourth, but Kelley got Mikaelie Sullivan to strike out swinging.
In the Linfield sixth, Saathoff made it 3-0 with a sacrifice RBI that scored
Tiani Wayton from third base.
Sandifer broke up the Wildcats' shutout bid, slamming a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh, marking her Division III-leading 16th roundtripper. Reagan Medina and Kimberly Pulido then reached base on consecutive fielding errors by the Wildcats, sending the potential winning run in the form of Kamryn Potter to the plate with two outs. But Nelson snagged Potter's lofting ball to right field over her shoulder for the game's final out.
Paul, Seats and Johns each accounted for two hits as the 'Cats outhit the Bruins 9-4. Kelley struck out eight batters while holding the Bruins to single run.
NEXT
Linfield now awaits the NCAA's May 15 announcement of the full Division III playoff tournament field. Regional playoffs are slated to begin May 18 at campus sites across the country.
