NEWBERG, Ore. – For a second straight day, Linfield and George Fox were ringing up home runs as if they were playing inside an electronic video game.
And for a second straight day, the fourth-ranked Wildcats were forced to settle for a split of their Northwest Conference softball series with their county rivals at Morse Field. Perhaps fittingly though not happily for the Wildcats, Game 4 of the series ended on a walk-off home run by the Bruins, the 31st fence-clearing blast of the four-game set.
Sunday's action began with Linfield atoning for its most lopsided loss of the season a day earlier by pounding five home runs against the Bruins, including two roundtrip shots by
Cydney Hess to scorch George Fox 17-5. The nightcap was the first tightly contested game of the series and was ultimately decided by Kiley Harris' tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Bruins an emotional 6-5 victory on their home field.
Once the dust had settled on Sunday, Linfield saw its record move to 31-5 overall and 21-3 in the NWC. With the split, the Bruins advanced to 23-13 and 17-7 in league play.
Four Wildcats hit .500 or better in the series, including Hess (.538, 3 doubles, 2 HR, 6 RBI),
Ashley Sutton (.538, 1 double, 4 HR, 8 RBI),
Ashlyn Aven (.500, 3 HR, 6 RBI), and
Jacey Leyvas (.500, 2 HR, 4 RBI).
Linfield scored 37 runs over the two days, including 15 home runs, had a combined 50 base hits, and batted .407 as a team.
As potent as Linfield's offensive numbers were, it amounted to a rough weekend for Linfield pitchers, who yielded a combined ERA of 7.84 against the Bruins. Staff ace
Tyler McNeley allowed just 13 hits and struck out 19 Bruins over 17 innings, however, nine of those hits sailed for home runs beyond the notoriously shallow outfield wall at GFU's Morse Field.
NEXT
Linfield heads into the final weekend of the conference schedule needing just two wins to clinch at least a share of its fourth straight and 18th overall league championship. The Wildcats play a split series to close out the NWC schedule, traveling to Willamette on Saturday for a noon doubleheader before returning home to host the Bearcats on Sunday for Senior Day. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. that day with Senior Day festivities starting at 10:40 a.m.
