SPOKANE, Wash. --- Linfield baseball (18-12, 10-5 NWC) scored four runs in the final three innings, but their comeback came up short in series finale at Whitworth (20-13, 15-3 NWC), 7-4.
 
With the series locked up, Whitworth was aiming to get the sweep early on, facing Linfield starter Casey Struckmeier. An infield error aided a two-run home run in the first inning to put the Pirates up 2-0. 
 
Linfield's bats got going earlier in the game on Sunday, with Nick Holm recording the 'Cats first hit with a single in the second inning. A leadoff double came around two score thanks to two groundouts, 3-0 Whitworth through two. 
 
The Wildcats loaded the bases in the fourth, but with two down, they were unable to find the clutch hit. Whitworth added one in the fourth and three in the fifth as Colton Ouellette came in on the mound to relieve Struckmeier. 
 
Trailing 7-0 entering the final three innings, Linfield got on the board thanks to Rylan Gullard's two-out double to left, although Jaxson Kister was cut down trying to score, ending the inning with just one run.
 
Wyatt Hurley recorded his second hit on the game after pinch hitting a pair of innings earlier, going deep to score Cole Snidow and make it 7-3 Pirates in the eighth.
 
Zack Hampson held down the final two innings on the bump, allowing just one hit. Meanwhile Kister brought home a run with a fielder's choice that led to a Pirates error. A double play halted the Wildcats comeback in the ninth, falling 7-4 to end the series. 
 
Linfield out-hit Whitworth 11 hits to nine, with four different wildcats recording two hits. Hurley's two-run home run in the eighth earned him two of the team's four runs batted in. Casey Struckmeier moves to 1-1 on the mound this season after three and two-thirds, allowing two earned on three hits. Closer Zack Hampson continued to be effective after just one hit over the final two innings of work.
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return home to host Whitman next weekend, Friday's doubleheader slated to start at 12 p.m.
 
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