McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield kicked off Northwest Conference action in style, taking both games of a doubleheader against George Fox on Saturday at Roy Helser Field. The Wildcats edged the Bruins 3-2 in a tightly contested opener before cruising to a dominant 9-4 victory on the backend.
GAME 1: LINFIELD 3, GEORGE FOX 2
In a game defined by strong pitching and timely hitting, Linfield secured a 3-2 victory in the first contest of the twin bill.
Junior
Camden Oram delivered a stellar performance on the mound, tossing 7.2 innings while allowing just two runs on seven hits and striking out two.
Gavin Ludlow earned the win, shutting down the Bruins in the final 1.1 innings with two strikeouts.
Offensively, the Wildcats made the most of their four hits.
Nate Kassler delivered a crucial sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to give Linfield a 2-0 lead, and
Tyler Marr followed with a sacrifice fly in the eighth that scored the game-winning run.
Elijah Maris scored the run after drawing a walk.
Despite a late two-run homer from George Fox's Carson Coulter in the eighth, Linfield's pitching held firm to secure the win.
GAME 2: LINFIELD 9, GEORGE FOX 4
The Wildcats came alive in the second game, capitalizing on defensive miscues by George Fox to power their way to a 9-4 win.
George Fox jumped out to an early lead, plating two runs by the end of the third inning. Linfield followed the Bruins' strong start with an offensive eruption of six straight runs.
Nick Holm got the scoring started for the Wildcats when he hit a sacrifice fly out to centerfield, allowing
Hunter Klingelhoffer to advance to home.
Elijah Maris then hit a line drive single, plating
Tyler Eisenhut before
Josh Mansur hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, bringing
Matthew Lewis into home. Mansur followed up in the seventh with a scorcher out to leftfield that soared over the fence, scoring three runs.
George Fox would add two more runs, but Linfield kept the pressure on, scoring three runs of its own in the eighth inning, securing the win.
On the mound, Linfield held George Fox to just four runs despite the Bruins tallying nine hits. Zac Johnson provided solid work in relief, and the bullpen combined for eight strikeouts to keep George Fox from mounting a comeback.
With the two wins, Linfield starts conference play 2-0 and will look to carry its momentum into the series finale tomorrow.
NEXT
Linfield wraps up its series with the Bruins Sunday at Roy Helser Field at noon.
