WHITTIER, Calif. – Seventh-ranked Linfield rolled up 25 runs on Whittier in a nonconference doubleheader Saturday at Palmer Field. The Wildcats won the opener 11-0 before drubbing the Poets 14-5 in the nightcap. Both games were shortened to five innings by the eight-run rule.
Running their win streak to 10 with the sweep of the Poets, the Wildcats raised their season record to 16-2. Whittier ended the day at 9-9.
GAME 1: Linfield 11, Whittier 0, 5 innings
Brooklyn Sweatman hit a home run with her first collegiate at-bat,
Breanna Bartek went 3-for-3 with a stolen base and
Tyler McNeley spun her fifth shutout of the season in leading the Wildcats to the lopsided win in the first game of the doubleheader.
Linfield led 2-0 after one inning and extended that margin to 7-0 after three frames before dropping another four runs on the Poets in the fourth.
Meara Sain went 2 for 2 with a double and scored three runs, and
Ashlyn Aven added a pair of RBIs to fuel a nine-hit Linfield attack.
McNeley improved to 8-1 for the season in the circle. She struck out 11 Poets, equaling a season-high while limiting Whittier to just two hits and one walk.
GAME 2: Linfield 14, Whittier 5, 5 innings
Aven and
Cydney Hess each doubled and hit home runs in the contest. Hess finished with six RBIs while Aven drove in three runs of her own. Sain contributed two singles, a double, two RBIs, plus added a stolen base for good measure.
Destiny Cornwell (8-1) threw a five-hitter, striking out one batter and walking one.
After taking a 4-1 first-inning lead, the Wildcats exploded for 10 runs in a wild second stanza that saw Hess account for five RBIs in the inning.
From there, Linfield coasted to its second run-rule shortened outcome of the day.
NEXT
Linfield heads to La Verne for a pair of contests on Sunday. Action starts at noon at the Campus West Athletics Facilities field.
