McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Playing in front of the home crowd at Roy
Helser Field, the Linfield Wildcats scored five runs in the bottom
of the eighth inning on Sunday afternoon to rally past Pacific
Lutheran, 8-5, and claim the Northwest Conference baseball
championship.
The win assures the Wildcats (30-10 overall, 20-4 NWC) of
the outright conference championship, their second in the last
three years. Linfield has earned the NWC's automatic berth in the
NCAA Division III regional tournament scheduled for May 19-22 at
Helser Field.
After getting swept aside in the three-game series, the Lutes
(30-10, 18-6) finish second in the conference. A victory in any of
the three games would have given PLU a share of the title, their
third in the past four seasons. Now, the Lutes await word on
whether or not they receive a regional tournament at-large
bid. The tournament field will be announced on Monday, May 17
(corrected from earlier release that stated May 10).
Linfield notched singles runs in both the first and second
innings to take a 2-0 lead. Tyson Smith led off with a homer for
the Wildcats, and they added their second run on a bunt single by
Jared Adamson.
PLU refused to wilt, plating three runs in the third inning to
jump in front. Josh Takayoshi and Ryan Aratani reached on singles
and Takayoshi scored on a Brock Gates base hit. Corey Moore
drove in Aratani with a base hit, and Ben Shively scored Gates with
a single.
Zach Boskovich tied the game in the bottom of the fourth
with his 16th home run of the season.
In the PLU seventh, Takayoshi, Gates and Moore all
collected doubles to give the Lutes a 5-3 lead.
The wheels came off the Lutes' wagon in the fateful eighth
as the Wildcats scored their five runs on four hits, two walks, a
hit batter and a balk. Nathan Eisenhauer (2-2) took the loss in
relief of starter Scott Wall, who allowed four runs on six hits in
seven innings of work.
Both teams finished the game with 10 hits, but the Lutes ended
up leaving 10 runners on the base paths compared to just six for
the Wildcats. Takayoshi, Gates, Moore and Shively all had a pair of
hits for the Lutes, Takayoshi and Gates scored two runs each, and
Gates and Moore drove in a pair apiece.
- PLU -
