LA VERNE, Calif. – Home runs were the order of the day for the Linfield Wildcats during a doubleheader sweep of the La Verne Leopards at Campus West Field.
Seven home run blasts, including two each by
Claire Seats and
Ashlyn Aven, powered second-ranked Linfield (15-1) to the high-scoring sweep of La Verne (11-10).
The Wildcats thumped the Leopards 13-6 in Saturday's opener before rolling to a 12-3 win in a five-inning run-rule shortened nightcap.
Jacey Leyvas totaled seven hits on the day, Aven had six, while Seats and
Cydney Hess each contributed five. Linfield amassed 25 hits, including 10 for extra bases, against an assortment of Leopard pitchers.
Wildcat pitchers
Tyler McNeley and
Tyler Warden combined to hold La Verne to 19 hits, 10 runs and three walks.
GAME 1: Linfield 13, La Verne 6
Linfield pounded a season-high 20 hits, turning a tight game in the closing innings into a rout.
Aven put the Wildcats on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning, blasting a solo home run to left-center field.
Meara Sain made it 3-0 with a two-run single through the infield.
Hess drove in pinch runner
Kaia Young with a single in the third inning before
Ashley Sutton drove home Hess from second base with a line-drive single down the third-base line, extending the Linfield lead to 5-0.
La Verne pulled to within one run in the bottom of the third on Campbell's two-run double and Hallett's ground-rule double that scored two more runs.
The Wildcats began the fourth inning with
Sophia vanderSommen's solo home run go back in front 6-4. But the Leopards answered with two runs to pull even at 6 runs a piece.
In the fifth, the Wildcats positioned at second and third base with one out, setting the table for
Tiani Wayton's sacrifice RBI to put the 'Cats back in front 7-6.
The sixth inning saw Linfield load the bases on reliever Jaidynn Alvarez with two outs, but Sutton's grounder resulted in a force out at third base, keeping the game a one-run affair.
The Wildcats put the game out of reach in the seventh, plating six runs on six hits and two errors. Kaili Saatoff,
Brynn Nelson, Aven, Hess and Sutton all took turns registering RBIs in the inning.
Ten Wildcats recorded hits in the game. Aven, Hess and Leyvas each recorded three hits.
Alvarez (4-4) and ULV starter Brianna Vasquez conceded 20 hits and two walks without recording a single strikeout.
GAME 2: Linfield 12, La Verne 3, 5 innings
Saathoff and Seats took turns swatting home runs on the game's first two at-bats, touching off a four-run, six-hit first inning for the Wildcats.
La Verne's Alyssa Campbell kept the Leopards within striking distance with her second homer of the day in the third inning, pulling the Leopards to withing 6-3.
Seats delivered her second homer of the game in the top of the fourth and Aven followed shortly thereafter with a two-run roundtripper to make the score 9-3. Hess smacked her fifth homer of the season and Seats finished off the inning with a two-run single, capping a six-run Linfield burst.
Linfield totaled 17 hits to La Verne's five. Seats went 3 for 4 with four RBIs. Aven finished with three hits, including a triple and a home run, and Leyvas went 4 for 4.
In the circle, Warden pocketed the win to improve to 4-0 for the season. She scattered five hits and one walk.
NEXT
Linfield heads to Redlands on Sunday to face the sixth-ranked Bulldogs in a rematch of last season's NCAA Division III McMinnville Regional matchup. First pitch for Sunday's doubleheader is set for noon at the Field of Dreams.
