McMINNVILLE, Ore. –
Elijah Maris went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of doubles to help lead Linfield to a 6-4 nonconference victory over Bushnell on Tuesday afternoon at Roy Helser Field.
The Wildcats struck early and never gave the lead up after capturing it in the bottom of the first.
Trent Wainfeld got Linfield on the board and tied the score at 1-1 after he grounded out to second but allowed Maris to reach home.
Luke Porter kept the offense rolling with a single to center field that plated
Matthew Lewis.
Carter Studer,
Cooper Justice, and a platoon of Linfield relievers combined to hold Bushnell to eight hits and four runs. Justice earned the win with a clean fourth inning, striking out two.
Colton Ouellette worked the ninth for his fourth save of the season.
Maris delivered the decisive blow in the sixth, ripping a two-run double to center that scored
Josh Mansur and
Wyatt McClory. McClory finished 2-for-2, continuing his hot hitting streak.
Bushnell got a solo home run from a red-hot Albert Jennings in the first and a pinch-hit homer from Jameson Hussey in the ninth, but the Beacons couldn't overcome Linfield's early scoring and deep bullpen.
The Wildcats outhit Bushnell 13-8 and played error-free defense, showing poise and forcing Bushnell to leave eight runners on base.
NEXT
Linfield hits the road to resume conference play with a series against Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma this weekend. The 'Cats play a doubleheader on Saturday and single game on Sunday before returning home for a nonconference matchup against Lewis and Clark on Tuesday.
