WEST LINN, Ore. – Throwing a pair of
five-inning shutouts, the No. 1-ranked Linfield College Wildcats
posted 8-0 and 12-0 wins over the George Fox University Bruins in a
Northwest Conference softball doubleheader that was played here on
Rosemont Middle School's artificial turf field due to wet
grounds in McMinnville Saturday afternoon.
In the first game, the Wildcats started out mildly enough,
scoring twice in the first on an RBI ground out by Staci Doucette
and a run-scoring single by Emily Keagbine. They blew the
game open in the second, however, with a two-run triple by Kayla
Hubrich, a run-scoring double by Jaydee Baxter, and an RBI single
by Keagbine.
Emilee Lepp slugged her 16th home run of the season in the
fourth, a solo shot, and Alex Hartmann doubled and scored on
Hubrich' single in the fifth, ending the game on the
'eight-run' rule.
Claire Velaski (10-1) threw the first four innings for the
Wildcats, allowing four hits with two strikeouts and a walk to pick
up the win. Shelby VandeBergh finished up with one inning,
allowing two hits and a walk but leaving the bases loaded with a
pair of strikeouts. Allyssa DenDekker (1-6) went the distance
for the Bruins and suffered the setback.
Hubrich led a 12-hit Linfield attack with three hits, three
RBIs, and two runs scored, while Lepp and Keagbine had two hits
apiece. Nicole Renteria had two of the
Bruins' six hits in the game.
In the second game, Keagbine hit a three-run homer, her 10th of
the year, to get the Wildcats going in the first inning.
Doucette had a three-run double and Keagbine a run-producing single
in the second that made it 7-0. Linfield finished with a
five-run fourth, Keagbine doubling in a run and Karleigh Prestianni
singling in one before Hartmann drilled a three-run shot, her first
of the year, to cap the frame.
Lauren Harvey (7-0), Hannah Muller, and Karina Paavola combined
on a three-hitter for the Wildcats, Harvey working three innings
with two hits allowed, two strikeouts and a walk for the win before
the other two closed with an inning apiece. Erin Hento (6-7)
threw all four inning for the Bruins.
Doucette, Keagbine, and Prestianni all went 3-3 as the Wildcats
piled up 14 hits. Keagbine drove in five runs, while Doucette and
Hartmann knocked in three each. Kris Trindle had two of the
Bruins' three hits.
NEXT: George Fox (7-15, NWC 1-9) goes to
Pacific University Sunday for a conference doubleheader at 12:00
noon ... Linfield (21-2, NWC 10-1), which notched its 16th
consecutive 20-win season, hosts Lewis & Clark College Sunday
for an NWC pair, also at noon.
