COLUMBUS, Georgia – Jackson Vaughan reached a milestone coaching plateau and the Linfield Wildcats won a pair of games over previously unbeaten and nationally ranked teams on Saturday at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic.
 
Invited to play at the select Division III tournament featuring 22 playoff-caliber teams, the Wildcats had seen their first two scheduled contests – versus 13th-ranked Case Western Reserve and Chapman – washed out Friday by steady rain in the Columbus region.
 
Once the clouds parted on Saturday, Linfield thumped previously unbeaten Belhaven 9-1 in five innings, handing the No. 12 Blazers their first defeat in 10 outings. The 'Cats returned to knock off another undefeated and national ranked program, edging No. 20 Transylvania 5-4.
 
In his 23rd season as Wildcats manager, Vaughan has piled up 801 career wins, becoming the seventh active Division III softball coach to surpass 800 for their career.
 
GAME 1: Linfield 9, Belhaven 1, 5 innings
Wildcats All-American Tayah Kelley picked up where she left off last spring, spinning a one-hit, six strikeout effort on the way to her 80th career pitching victory. The fifth-year senior held the Blazers without a hit until the fifth inning with her only blemish coming by way of a solo home run by pinch hitter Colby Hollinger.
 
The Linfield offense appeared in midseason form already with a 10-hit performance. Claire Seats went 3-for-3, blasting a two-run home run in the second inning then adding an RBI double in the fourth. Newcomer Meara Sain went 2-for-2 in her collegiate debut, driving home a pair of runs and stealing two bases.
 
Also contributing base hits for the Wildcats were Kaili Saathoff, Ashlyn Aven, Sophia vanderSommen and Jacey Leyvas.
 
GAME 2: Linfield 5, Transylvania 4
Seats provided the winning margin, smacking a line-drive RBI single in the top of the seventh inning to break a 4-all tie. Brynn Nelson drilled a pair of home runs, Cydney Hess drove in two runs and Sain notched a pair of hits for the second straight game.
 
Freshman Tyler McNeley earned the start in the circle, striking out six batters and walking two over five innings of action. Kelley came on in relief in the sixth, striking out four and holding the Pioneers scoreless the rest of the way.
 
Trinity Bridges (0-1) took the loss for Transylvania. She surrendered nine hits and a pair of walks while striking out eight Wildcats.
 
NEXT
The Wildcats play two more games on Sunday to wrap up their stay in Georgia. Sunday at 10:30 a.m. PST, the Wildcats face Roanoke College. At 12:30 PST, they square off against ninth-ranked Virginia Wesleyan in the first-ever meeting between the two storied programs.