Linfield softball pitcher Tayah Kelley was named Northwest Conference Softball-Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week in a conference release announced on Monday. Kelley pitched 12 total innings over three games, her efforts in the circle played a large part in Linfield's 4-0 trip in Columbus, Ga., where the Wildcats won the prestigious NFCA Leadoff Classic tournament.
 
Against Belhaven and Virginia Wesleyan, Kelley pitched a complete game (5 innings on both occasions) striking out six batters in both contests and only surrendering four hits and one earned run between the two games. In two innings of work against Transylvania, the Myrtle Creek, Ore., native struck out four batters, to bring her total tally of strikeouts over three games to 16.
 
Linfield leads the Northwest Conference with a team 1.59 ERA with Kelley also topping the NWC with a 0.58 ERA.
 
The Wildcats return to the field this weekend when they travel to face Whitworth on Saturday in a doubleheader scheduled to start at noon.