McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Northwest Conference softball rivals Linfield and Lewis & Clark went toe-to-toe for 13 innings in Game 1 Saturday at Del Smith Stadium before the visiting River Otters emerged with a 5-3 victory, snapping the Wildcats' 20-game win streak.
Perennial champion Linfield returned the favor in Game 2, hammering Lewis & Clark 13-3 in five innings, behind the pitching of
Tyler McNeley and the hitting of offensive stars
Meara Sain and
Ashlyn Aven.
Linfield (27-3) fell into a first-place tie in the NWC standings with Pacific Lutheran, each owning 15-3 NWC records following Saturday's games. Lewis & Clark (19-11) sits one game back of the league leaders at 14-4.
GAME 1: Lewis & Clark 5, Linfield 3, 13 innings
Linfield freshman
Destiny Cornwell threw 207 pitches in a marathon effort but it wasn't enough to hold off a resilient push by the upset-minded River Otters.
Kodie Ancheta had four hits to lead a nine-hit Lewis & Clark attack.
The River Otters drew first blood in the top of the second inning when McKena Dahir reached base on a fielding error, allowing Gina Ozuna to score all the way from second base.
Linfield answered in the bottom of the inning, positioning runners at second and third base with one out.
Kaia Young then knotted the game at 1 with an RBI single.
In the L&C third, Emily Patton gave the River Otters a 2-1 lead with an RBI single to left field, driving home Ancheta.
The game remained a one-run affair until the sixth when Linfield's
Emily Foytack drilled a full-count single to center field, plating pinch runner
Brooklyn Sweatman, squaring the game once more at 2-2.
L&C's Harper Campanella homered to take a 3-2 lead in the 11th. The Wildcats answered with
Lexiss Antle's RBI single off a full-count pitch, scoring
McKenna Parmelee, tying the game once more.
In the 13th, the River Otters pushed across the winning run on Tallulah Sickels fielder's choice that sent Ozuna across home plate. Lacey Marglin added a sacrifice RBI, scoring Dahir from third to make the final score 5-3.
L&C reliever Maggie O'Leary (12-5) earned the win after taking over for starter Charlize Pope. O'Leary gave up eight hits and two walks but logged five strikeouts across 11 innings of action.
Cornwell went the full 13 innings, allowing nine hits and three walks while striking out a career-high seven batters.
Cydney Hess, Foytack and Young led the Wildcats at the plate with two hits each. Linfield outhit Lewis & Clark 10-9, but the Wildcats committed a season-high four fielding errors.
GAME 2: Linfield 13, Lewis & Clark 3, 5 innings
A 10-run second inning helped Linfield pull away from a 3-all tie on the way to the run-rule victory.
Sain notched a double among her two hits, driving in five runs. Aven registered a pair of hits and drove in four runs, including her Division III-leading 15th home run of the season,
McNeley (15-1) went pitched all five innings to earn the win the circle. She allowed five hits and a pair of walks while striking out four batters.
Pope (2-5) topped a list of four L&C pitchers to see action the game. Combined, the foursome gave up nine hits and six walks while striking out just three Wildcats.
NEXT
The Wildcats and River Otters are set to complete their four-game series Sunday at Del Smith Stadium starting at noon.
