McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Staff aces Allyssa DenDekker and Erin Hento combined on a six-hit shutout as the George Fox University Bruins handed the 11th-ranked Linfield College Wildcats their first loss of the season 2-0 in the second game of their Northwest Conference softball doubleheader, earning a split Sunday afternoon here at Del Smith Stadium.

In the opener, the Wildcats scored in the bottom of the 10th inning to eke out a 1-0 victory over the upset-minded Bruins.

George Fox improved to 11-5 overall and 5-5 in the conference while Linfield slipped to 15-1, all in league play.  With the second-game victory, the Bruins ended a 52-game losing streak to the 10-time defending conference champions, their last win in the series having been an 8-0 triumph in Newberg on Mar. 10, 2001.  The Bruins also ended the Wildcats' 19-game conference winning streak.

“Yes, it's good to get that one out of the way; it's been a long time coming,” admitted a relieved George Fox head coach Jessica Hollen after the Bruins' thrilling win over their Yamhill County rivals.  “Linfield is still an excellent team and a national power, so I think what this does more than anything is tell us how far our program at Fox has come.  We had a couple of close ones with them last year, and other than the first game this year, our last two were really tight (Linfield squeezing out 3-2 and 1-0 extra-inning wins), so we figured it was just a matter of time.

“We were pretty mad about the way we played yesterday,” added Hollen, referring to the Bruins' twin losses at home to Willamette University, “so when we got together today, we decided to re-focus our attention on our game and on playing up to our capabilities, and not let who we were playing affect us.  This is a tough league all around, and while this will certainly help our confidence, we also have to realize that we're going to have to bring this intensity and concentration every time out.”     

Game 1 – at Linfield 1, George Fox 0 (10 innings)

Hento (5-3) pitched a gem in the opener, scattering six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk, but ran up against the brilliance of Linfield ace Karina Paavola (9-0), who allowed only two safeties (to Courtney Howard and Megan Furtado) while fanning 17, one short of the school record, with no walks.

Erin Carson doubled to lead off the bottom of the 10th, was sacrificed to third, and scored the only run of the game on Kenzie Schmoll's walk-off single to right.  Katie Brosig had two of the 'Cats hits.

Game 2 – George Fox 2, at Linfield 0

DenDekker (4-2) spaced six hits over 6.1 innings with one walk and one strikeout in the nightcap, while Hento came in to notch her first save (she tied for the national lead in that category last year with five).  Down 2-0 in the bottom of the 7th, the 'Cats' Lisa Yamamoto led off with a single, bringing the tying run to the plate.  DenDekker got Carson to pop to second before giving way to Hento, who induced two more pop flies to preserve the win and get the Linfield monkey off their collective backs.

George Fox got the only run it would need in the top of the 1st as Kayla Anderson reached on a one-out error at short, Amanda Woods singled, and Baylee Westrick walked before Ashley Bunce was hit with a pitch with two out to force in Anderson.  The Bruins added a huge insurance run in the 3rd when Kat Hylton got hit by a pitch to lead off, was forced as second by Anderson, Woods singled Anderson to third, and Westrick delivered a two-out RBI single. 

Shelby VandeBergh (3-1) took the loss for the Wildcats, allowing three hits over four innings with four strikeouts and two walks.  Lefty Montana McNealy finished up with three innings of one-hit ball, fanning three.  Woods and Westrick had two hits each for the Bruins (all the hits they had), while Brosig had two hits again for Linfield.

NEXT: George Fox opens play in the Tucson Invitational Games Saturday against Whittier College at 10:00 a.m. and Chapman University at 12:30 p.m. … Linfield begins a 12-game barnstorming trip through Texas Thursday with a doubleheader at LeTourneau University in Longview at 4:00 p.m. Central time.