Linfield University Athletics

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Linfield Wildcats came narrowly close to pulling off a second come-from-behind victory Friday afternoon at the Northwest Conference Baseball Tournament, instead falling 9-7 to regular-season champion Whitworth in the title game at Merkel Field.
 
Earlier on Friday, the Wildcats rallied from a 6-0 deficit to defeat Lewis & Clark 8-7, ending the River Otters' season at the four-team, single-elimination playoff tournament.
 
Linfield saw Jordan Harlow's maiden season as coach come to a close with a 24-18 record. By winning the NWC Tournament crown, Whitworth (28-14) secured the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III regional playoffs. Pairings will be announced Monday on NCAA.com
 
GAME TWO: Whitworth 9, Linfield 7
A two-run home run by the Pirates' Spencer Shipman in the bottom of the eighth inning broke a 7-all tie and proved to be the difference in the see-saw championship game.
 
Linfield grabbed the early advantage on Wyatt McClory's solo home run in the top of the first inning. Whitworth responded with five runs of its own in the bottom of the frame, including RBI singles from Carson Coffield and Nate Gray Jr., plus two more runs courtesy of a Wildcats fielding error.
 
Rylan Gullard made the score 5-2 with a solo home run in the second, and the senior outfielder later added a run-scoring single to right field in the third, scoring McClory to draw the 'Cats to within two runs.
 
In the fourth, Linfield capitalized on RBI singles by McClory and Gullard, plus a Pirates error, to take a 7-5 lead. But a two-run home run by Gray in the seventh squared the contest at 7, leaving the outcome in question heading into the final two stanzas.
 
The Wildcats nearly matched the Pirates hit for hit, 10-9, and equaled the hosts' two home runs to remain in contention. Gullard went 4 for 5 with three RBIs in his final game in a Wildcats' uniform. McClory added a pair of hits and three RBIs while Cole Hubka finished with a pair of hits and scored a run.
 
Linfield pitchers Colton Ouellette, Matthew Tacheny and Zack Hampson were steady throughout, combining for 11 strikeouts while yielding just three walks. Hampson (7-1) came in to close in the bottom of the eighth with the game tied at 7, but was tagged with his first loss of the season after surrendering the winning run to Shipman.
 
Pirates reliever AJ Woodward (1-1) earned the win. He gave up two hits and no runs to the Wildcats over four innings, striking out two.

GAME ONE: Linfield 8, Lewis & Clark 7
Tacheny got the start and proceeded to retire the first two batters before letting up a single, then striking out the next batter to end the inning. Senior Ely Kennel notched Linfield's first hit in the home half, but was later cut down in a rundown between second and third for the second out.
 
Lewis & Clark struck first in the second inning, scoring six runs on four hits, including back-to-back home runs. The three-run blast made it 5-0 and the following solo shot made it five runs scored with two-outs in the inning.
 
Gullard and Josh Mansur worked their way into scoring position with one out, scoring one as Jaxson Kister reached on an infield error. Kennel came through with a single to center, cutting into the deficit, 6-2. Carter Studer replaced Tacheny on the bump in the third, facing the minimum in his first inning of work. 
 
McClory led off the third with a double to left, where he and Gullard each scored on a Wyatt Hurley single to center, making it 6-4 Otters. Studer got into some trouble in the fifth, Lewis & Clark had a one-out double followed by an RBI-Single, extending their lead to 7-4. 
 
Hurley's bat came up big once again in the home half of the fifth, sending a deep drive to left field, scoring two to bring the Wildcats within one; 7-6 through five. Brian Mannion came out of the bullpen to take the sixth on the mound for Linfield. 
 
Mannion pitched a clean sixth and seventh innings for Linfield, passing the torch to Zack Hampson for the closing innings. Hampson worked out of a jam in the eighth, keeping the 'Cats within striking distance. Josh Mansur opened the bottom of the eighth with a single to left, but was stranded after the next three batters were unable to reach.
 
Hampson rolled through the eighth, facing the minimum, sending it to the final half-inning with the 'Cats down to their final three outs and trailing 7-6.
 
Nick Holm ripped a line drive single to center, replaced by Austin Gonia on the bases. Playing small ball, McClory bunted Gonia over to put the tying run in scoring position with one down. Jackson Bui pinch hit for Cole Snidow for the right-on-left platoon. Bui flied out to center for out number two, bringing up Gullard down to their final out. Gullard ripped a line drive that hit the second base umpire, resulting in Holm forced to stay at second, but putting Gullard at first and Wyatt Hurley back up at the dish.
 
A wild pitch advanced Gonia to third and Gullard to second, putting the winning run in scoring position. With a 2-1 count, Hurley scorched a single up the middle, bringing home both runners to earn the walk-off victory, 8-7. 
 
 
Hurley set a career-high with six runs batted in, going 3-5 as the designated hitter. The Yamhill, Oregon, native went 3-5 at the plate, highlighted not only by his two-run shot in the fifth but his walk-off two-run single. 

Linfield outhit Lewis & Clark, 14-8, as five different 'Cats had multi-hit efforts. Kennel went 3-5 with an RBI, McClory 2-3, Gullard 3-5, and Mansur 2-4. Hampson picked up his seventh win of the season, remaining as one of the nation's best out of the bullpen. Hampson tossed two innings of hitless ball, walking one and striking out one.
 
Linfield reached the conference title game for the first time since the 2022 season. 
  
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