Linfield One Win Away from NCAA D-III Softball Title

Linfeld, which lost 6-3 Sunday to Washington-St. Louis, must beat the Bears once more on Tuesday to lock up the championship.

Photo: Linfield Athletics

SALEM, Va. - Staving off elimination twice on the same day but in entirely different ways, the Linfield Wildcats moved within one victory of their first NCAA Division III national championship Monday at the Moyer Sports Complex.

Linfield pounded 22 hits during a wild 22-10 victory over Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the day’s semifinal game.

Later, Linfield snapped Washington-St. Louis’ 25-game winning streak, pulling out a 1-0 squeaker in eight innings.

It marked the time the Bears had trailed in 18 games.

Linfeld, which lost 6-3 Sunday to Washington-St. Louis, must beat the Bears once more on Tuesday to lock up the championship of the double-elimination tournament.

“It was an interesting day,” said a relieved Wildcats coach Jackson Vaughan. “We opened up by having to win a slugfest, then turned around and had to pull out a pitchers’ duel. Our kids really battled.”

LINFIELD 1, WASHINGTON-ST. LOUIS 0, 8 INNINGS

Jena Loop delivered a single in the top-half of the eighth inning, scoring Jenny Marshall to force a winner-take-all championship game Tuesday at 11:00 AM EDT.

Brittany Miller went the distance, allowing just two hits while striking out eight batters and not issuing a walk to pick up her 23rd win of the season.

She retired 13 straight and 16 of the last 17 batters she faced to send the Wildcats to the championship game.

“My hat is off to Brittany,” said Vaughan. “She came up huge for us today.”

Miller, who looked worn out in the Wildcats 6-3 loss to the Bears on Sunday, appeared crisp throughout the day’s second game.

“I really needed some rest,” the sophomore righthander said. “I came in knowing my team was hungry and was going to battle to win. I just had to do my part. My screwball, the pitch that I’ve been hating all season, was amazing today.”

Washington University's Laurel Sagartz, a four-time All-American, was the hard luck loser after going the distance and allowing just the one run on eight hits.

Sagartz struck out four and allowed one walk. The loss is just her second of the year, dropping her to 26-2 for the season.

“Linfield is a great team,” said Wash. U. coach Leticia Pindea-Boutte. “We can’t win with only two hits. Lauren pitched a great game and I have no doubts she can come back and shut them down tomorrow.”

Loop went 2 for 4, including her game-winning RBI in the eighth frame. Marshall, Stephanie Rice and Amanda Attleberger also came though in the clutch with two hits each.

“I knew I had to get the job done,” said Loop of her game-winning single. “I had been hitting off of (Sagartz) pretty well. I just knew I could get the job done.”

With the win, Linfield improves to 44-7 while the loss drops Washington's record to 35-6.

LINFIELD 22, WISCONSIN-EAU CLAIRE 10

Hot-hitting Linfield pounded Wisconsin-Eau Claire into submission as Meredith Brunette went 5 for 5 and drove in four runs, and Loop was 2 for 4, including a grand slam home run in the fifth inning that put the game out of reach.

The scoring donnybrook broke NCAA tournament records for runs by two teams (32), hits by two teams (34), hits by one team (22, Linfield), and runs by one team (22, Linfield).

Samantha Van Noy earned the victory in relief of Linfield starter Kendra Strahm. Van Noy (11-2) gave up eight hits and five earned runs to the Blugolds, who twice staged furious rallies in an attempt to overcome an early 8-1 deficit.

Linfield scored eight runs in the second inning and led 15-5 after three complete frames. UWEC trimmed the deficit to 15-9 before the Wildcats exploded again for seven more runs in the fifth.

Wisconsin-Eau Claire ended its season at 38-14.

Pitcher Mallory McKinney went 3 for 3 with five RBIs for the Blugolds. She also took the loss, giving up eight hits and nine earned runs to fall to 20-10.

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