McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Matched hit-for-hit against their longtime regional adversary, the Linfield Wildcats dug deep to hold off a late charge by the Chapman Panthers for a 5-3 win on Saturday in the championship game of the McMinnville Oregon Softball Regional at Del Smith Stadium.
The hard-fought victory marked Linfield's third straight and 12th regional championship in program history and propels the Wildcats to next week's Super Regionals where they'll host Illinois Wesleyan (36-7) in a best-of-three playoff series starting Thursday at Del Smith Stadium. Game times will be announced Monday. The Super Regional winner advances to the NCAA Championships May 29-June 4 in Bloomington, Illinois.
Chapman, which won the SCIAC Tournament to advance to the McMinnville Regional, saw its season come to a close. The Panthers ended their season with an overall record of 33-11.
Brynn Nelson's two-run home run in the first inning gave Linfield a quick advantage that the Wildcats would not relinquish. Chapman closed the gap to 2-1 in the second inning as Samantha Kennedy reached base on a Wildcats fielding error, enabling Morgan Lastinger to score an unearned run.
Ashlyn Aven doubled to lead off the second before
Ashley Sutton doubled to drive Aven home.
Kaili Saathoff then tapped a single to left field, scoring
Meara Sain for a three-run Wildcats cushion.
The score remained 4-1 until the sixth inning when Kennedy doubled to left-center field, scoring pinch runner Kristy Kitabayashi from second base. Miranda Murphy added a sacrifice RBI minutes later, drawing Chapman to within one run.
Desperately needing to hold back the Panthers' late surge, the Wildcats added an insurance run in the sixth. After Aven singled and advanced to second on an error, Saathoff singled up the middle to scored Aven.
Wildcats pitching ace
Tyler McNeley remained poised despite taking a sharply batted ball off her leg in the middle innings. She gave up nine hits and walked two batters, but with the tying run at the plate, the sophomore righthander got pinch runner Aleena Helms to ground out for the final out.
The Wildcats and Panthers each ended with nine hits on the day. Sain, Saathoff and Aven each finished with two hits for Linfield.
LINFIELD PLAYOFF HISTORY
Linfield is making its 20th NCAA playoff appearance and fourth Super Regional appearance. The Wildcats are seeking their ninth invitation to the NCAA Championship Finals where they own a 24-15 alltime record. Linfield won Super Regional titles in 2024 and 2023, finishing third and seventh in the nation, respectively.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Named to the McMinnville Regional All-Tournament Team were Linfield's
Kaili Saathoff,
Jacey Leyvas,
Meara Sain,
Ashley Sutton and
Tyler McNeley; Chapman's Rose Malen, Ilianna Serna and Grace Fosselman; and Lewis & Clark's Mari Alvarez, Lacey Marglin.
