The softball team once again reaffirmed its spot atop the Northwest Conference.
Doubleheaders against George Fox University and Lewis & Clark College were rained out on April 3 and 4, respectively.
While the Lewis & Clark series was rescheduled for April 14, the games against the Bruins were made up April 7, in which the Wildcats won 12-0 and 8-0.
Linfield jumped on George Fox pitching early on, scoring seven runs in the first inning, during which eight batters reached base. Senior right fielder Rochelle Friend began the inning with an extra-base hit and ended it with a base-clearing double.
The following inning, sophomore designated hitter Staci Doucette homered off the right field scoreboard.
In the third, sophomore catcher Emilee Lepp hit a three-run home run. Another run in the fourth rounded out the score to 12-0.
Junior pitcher Claire Velaski was perfect through three innings, striking out seven of nine batters and moving her record to 8-2.
Senior pitcher Samantha Van Noy allowed two hits in the remaining two innings.
Friend and Lepp both had two hits and four runs batted in. Junior shortstop Emily Keagbine added two hits in her return from a broken jaw March 27. The rain outs caused her to only miss two games.
Lepp did more damage with her bat in the second game. She added two solo home runs, a single and three runs.
In the fourth inning, Lepp and Doucette homered back-to-back. Doucette’s RBI single in the sixth ended the game 8-0.
Doucette’s 11th home run of the year puts her atop all NCAA Division III athletes. The Wildcats remain first in the country with 1.54 home runs per game.
Sophomore pitcher Lauren Harvey improved to 10-2 while striking out five batters and giving up one hit in four innings. Sophomore Brittany Woods pitched the last two frames, giving up one hit.
Linfield will play a 9-3 Pacific Lutheran University on April 10 and University of Puget Sound on April 11. The Wildcats will travel to Portland to make up the rained-out games against Lewis & Clark on April 14.
Kurtis Williams
Freelancer Kurtis Williams can be reached at [email protected]