NCAA D-III Softball Finals: Washington-St. Louis Clips Linfield, 6-3

For the first time of the tournament, the Wildcats were held without a stolen base, normally a staple of their offense.

Photo: Linfield Athletics

SALEM, Va. - All-America pitcher Laurel Sagartz and the Washington-St. Louis Bears jumped on the Linfield Wildcats early, weathered a mid-game surge, and held on for a 6-3 victory in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Finals at the Moyer Sports Complex.

Linfield (42-7) suffered its first loss of the double-elimination national championship tournament, halting a modest six-game winning streak. Washington-St. Louis won its 25th consecutive game to improve to 35-5.

The Wildcats play Wisconsin-Eau Claire in a loser-out matchup that begins Monday at noon EDT.

The winner survives to play Washington-St. Louis in a championship game at 2:30 PM. Should the Bears lose, a second championship contest would be played Tuesday at 11:00 AM.

The Bears tagged Linfield ace Brittany Miller for nine hits and five earned runs before reliever Samantha Van Noy took over in the fourth. All told, the Bears recorded 11 hits and took advantage of a season-high four errors by the Wildcats.

Sagartz, a four-time first-team all-American, limited the hot-hitting Wildcats to five hits.

She struck out four batters and walked just one to improve to 26-1. Sagartz entered the game with a Division III-best 0.30 earned run average.

Washington-St. Louis took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Jamie Kressel's RBI double.

The Bears padded their lead with three runs in the third. Kressel doubled again to score Laura D'Andrea, then Lindsay Cavarra launched a two-run homer over the center-field fence.

The Bears extended their lead to 6-0 in the fourth on D'Andrea's two-run double to left field.

Linfield threatened to make the game interesting with three quick runs in the bottom of the inning.

With the bases loaded, Lisa Smith singled to left field, then advanced all the way to third base on a pair of WUSL fielding errors, scoring three runs.

Brittany Miller, who at times had looked unstoppable during her first two Finals starts, experienced eroding confidence as the game wore on.

Miller struck out four batters before giving way to Van Noy. The Wildcats freshman fanned four batters while holding the Bears scoreless the rest of the way.

“I just didn't bring my best stuff,” said Miller, who before being replaced by Van Noy, had pitched every inning for the Wildcats in the tournament. “I have to come back strong tomorrow. Hopefully, a little ice and rest will take care of that.”

Smith and Jena Loop both had two hits in the game.

For the first time of the tournament, the Wildcats were held without a stolen base, normally a staple of their offense.

“We're disappointed,” said Linfield coach Jackson Vaughan. “Obviously, we didn't play particularly well, starting out the game with a couple of errors. Offensively, we didn't play that bad. I thought we outplayed them over the last three or four innings.”

Linfield outhit the Bears 5-1 over the last 3 2/3 innings, but facing the nation's top small-college pitcher, the Wildcats needed more.

“This game can be very humbling,” said Vaughan, whose team had outscored the opposition 20-0 during its first two tournament games. “Things can change in a hurry.”

With their margin for error now sitting at zero, the Wildcats are likely to come out with a chip on their shoulder Monday.

“We're just going to come out and play our style of softball,” said Vaughan. “If we do that, we'll be in good shape.”

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