TACOMA, Wash. –
Tayah Kelley became Linfield's all-time shutouts leader in the opener, and
Cydney Hess and
Jacey Leyvas took turns belting home runs in the nightcap to power the Wildcats to a lopsided sweep of the Puget Sound Loggers during a Northwest Conference doubleheader Sunday at Logger Field. Linfield won 10-0 and 13-1, both shortened to five innings by the eight-run rule.
Third-ranked Linfield (24-0, 12-0 NWC) continued its season-long dominance of opponents. For the weekend, the Wildcats outscored the Loggers 43-7 and outhit the hosts 44-13.
Puget Sound (6-14, 4-8 NWC), which committed 14 errors in the series and hit a combined .153 against Linfield pitchers, lost for the fifth time in six games.
Brynn Nelson went 6 for 10 in the series and drove in four runs.
Cydney Hess was 7 for 14 at the plate with two home runs and nine RBIs.
Kaili Saathoff contributed four doubles, three singles and drew two walks in her 12 trips to the plate.
Kelley,
Tyler McNeley and
Tyler Warden combined for 41 strikeouts over 24 innings.
GAME 1: Linfield 8, Puget Sound 0, 5 innings
Kelley ran her season record to 15-0, retiring nine Loggers by strikeout while yielding just a single hit from the 17 batters she faced. The senior All-American notched her 27th career shutout, breaking the school record of 26 set by former All-American and Hall of Fame inductee Brittany Miller.
The Linfield offense spread around 10 hits, including two each from Saathoff, Hess and
Tiani Wayton. The Wildcats were lethal on the basepaths as well, successfully stealing six times, including two by Wayton.
Claire Seats swatted her eighth home run of the season in the first inning, a three-run blast, and Ashlynn Aven closed the game with a solo home run in the final frame, her third of the year.
Hope Fleschman registered UPS's lone base hit. Loggers starter Aislinn O'Reilly took the loss to fall to 0-5 for the season. She allowed six hits and six earned in the first three innings before turning the game over to reliever Jessica Hendrickx.
GAME 2: Linfield 13, Puget Sound 1, 5 innings
Linfield picked up where it left off in Game 1, plating four runs in the first inning, three in the second, and four more in the third to open up an 11-0 advantage.
Puget Sound netted its only run of the day in the third inning when Brenna Flannery launched a solo home run.
Hess went 2 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs. Leyvas homered and drove home three runs, and Saathoff went 2 for 2, drew a pair of walks, drove in two runs and scored four times.
McNeley earned her second win of the series, striking out five Loggers and scattering three hits across the first four innings. Warden closed the game with a strikeout in the fifth.
Loggers starter Naomi Estarada was replaced just four batters into the game, replaced by Allison Madia, who surrendered seven earned runs over the next 2 1/3 innings.
The Loggers committed six errors in the contest while the Wildcats were spotless defensively.
AHEAD
Linfield returns home to host Pacific in a four-game Northwest Conference series Saturday and Sunday. Action begins at noon on Saturday and at 11 a.m. on Sunday at Del Smith Stadium.
