McMINNVILLE, Ore. – It took an epic 13 innings, but Linfield College finally nailed down the Northwest Conference baseball championship when Kramer Lindell doubled in Jake Wylie all the way from first base to give the Wildcats a 2-1 victory over the second-place George Fox University Bruins Sunday afternoon here at Roy Helser Field.

The first nine innings were a classic pitchers' duel between right-handers Tom Zarosinski of George Fox and Zach Brandon of Linfield.  Zarosinski scattered seven hits, struck out six and walked one, while Brandon spaced eight hits with a pair of strikeouts and no walks.

George Fox stuck paydirt first in the top of the 2nd.  Danny Clifford looped a single down the right-field line and Derek Dixon ripped a single off the glove of a leaping Tim Wilson at second.  Zach Miller sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Zac Israel dropped a single into left-center to score Clifford.

Linfield tied it in the 4th.  Wylie walked with one out and went to third on Lindell's sharp single through the right side.  Fisher grounded into a 5-4 force out of Lindell as Wylie scored the tying run, and the starting pitchers took over from there, keeping the game tied throughout the remainder of their stints.

The teams' closers, Justin Huckins (2-1) for the Wildcats and Alex Keenan (0-3) for the Bruins, took over for the four extra innings and thwarted several scoring opportunities.  Huckins hit Bruin batters to lead off both the 10th and 11th innings, but wound up stranding both at second base.  Miller singled and was sacrificed to second in the George Fox 12th but was left there, and in the 13th, Josh Rapacz singled and Clifford walked with two out, only to have Dixon pop up for the final out.

Linfield had its best chance to win in the 10th.  Keenan hit Jordan Harlow to start the inning, and after a wild pitch and a fly out, Wilson was intentionally walked.  Corey Van Domelen then unintentionally walked to load the bases, bringing up Wylie, the conference RBI leader.  With the infield in, Wylie hit a slow roller to Zach Hegelmeyer at short, who elected to try for the double play instead of coming home for the winning run.  Israel at second got the force out, then made an off-balance throw with just enough steam on to nip Wylie and send the game to the 11th.

Keenan pitched hitless 11th and 12th innings with one walk, but passed Wylie after retiring VanDomelen on a grounder to first to open the 13th.  Lindell then lined his game-winning hit about an inch fair down the left-field line, and Wylie, never hesitating, slid home easily to give the Wildcats their third conference crown in the last four years.

George Fox, ranked No. 18 in the American Baseball Coaches Association / Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III national poll and No. 19 in the D3baseball.com poll, is now 24-12 overall and 17-7 in the conference.  Linfield, No. 1 in both polls, is 29-5 overall and 18-3 in the NWC after sweeping the Bruins. 

NEXT: George Fox is done with conference play and has two games remaining with Corban University, Thursday at home at 4:00 p.m. and Saturday in Salem, Ore., at 1:00 p.m. ... Linfield visits Lewis & Clark College for its final three conference games, with a doubleheader Saturday and a single game Sunday, starting at 12:00 noon both days.