Wildcats clinch NWC title
| Linfield clinched the NWC automatic bid to the NCAA
Diviison III National Tournament on Saturday. Linfield sports information |
McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Zach Manley and Evan Hilberg combined
to shut out the George Fox Bruins and the fifth-ranked Linfield
Wildcats made the most of four hits for a 3-0 victory Saturday
afternoon at Roy Helser Field, sewing up the Northwest Conference
championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National
Tournament.
Linfield improved to 26-8 overall and 17-4 in the conference,
clinching a share of their second straight conference crown. Puget
Sound, now 13-7 in the conference after pulling out a 6-5 win over
Pacific with three runs in the bottom of the ninth in the first
game of a doubleheader Saturday, is the only team with a
mathematical chance of catching the Wildcats, but would have to win
all four of their remaining NWC games and have Linfield lose all
three next weekend at Pacific Lutheran.
Linfield took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against the
Bruins’ Brian Davis (2-1) when Eric Evenson led off with a
bloop double off the left-field foul line, was sacrificed to
second, and scored on Tim Wilson’s ground out to second. The
Wildcats had a chance for more runs off Davis in the fourth when
the George Fox starter walked four batters in the inning, but one
runner was picked off first, and reliever Carl Mason needed only
one pitch to get Kevin Coleman on a fly to right to end the inning
with the bases loaded.
The Wildcats picked up insurance runs in the sixth and eighth
innings. In the sixth, Wilson drew a lead-off walk, stole second,
and scored on Clayton Truex’s ground single to left. In the
eighth, Dustin Smith walked, was sacrificed to second, and scored
on a two-out double down the left-field line by Kevin Allan off
reliever Jacob Brown.
The Bruins out-hit the Wildcats six to four, drew four walks, and
had one hit batsman, but left all 11 of their runners on base,
twice squandering bases-loaded opportunities and leaving two in
scoring position in another inning.
Manley (3-0) worked seven innings for the Wildcats, spacing five
hits while fanning five with two walks. He escaped a one-out
bases-loaded jam in the fourth by striking out Zac Israel and Jay
Kirchhofer, and got Taylor Hunter on a soft liner back to the mound
with two out and the bases full in the seventh.
The Bruins had another shot to tie in the eighth against Hilberg.
With two out, Derek Aldrich drew a walk and Nate Hickok lined a
single off Hilberg, with both runners advancing to second and third
when third baseman Smith fielded the ricochet and threw wildly
trying to get Hickok. Hilberg induced Israel to tap back to the
mound, however, and struck out two in the ninth while nailing down
his second save.
Evenson for Linfield and Kirchhofer for George Fox were the only
batters with two hits in the tight pitchers’ duel.
