Wildcat Roundup: Baseball sweeps Pacific; tennis earns victories at Willamette; golf perfect in Salem

Baseball

Leading into a three-game set with NCAA Division III No. 1, the Wildcats baseball club (12-4, 7-2) found its first Northwest Conference sweep as they took a trio of contests from Pacific University (5-13, 2-4) at Roy Helser Field.

On March 14, Linfield began the series with heroics from senior Josh Mansur.

For the second time in seven days, the ’Cats found themselves in a score deadlock after nine innings. A Pacific rally in the ninth to plate one run and tie the game at 5-5 forced the situation, but Linfield’s offense woke back up shortly after junior Zack Hampson escaped danger in the top of the tenth.

In the bottom half, Spencer Kowalski reached first base via a walk with one out. Speedy freshman Austin Gonia pinch ran, which made all the difference as Mansur stepped to the plate against Pacific’s Matt Palmateer.

Down in the count 1-2, Mansur aimed for contact, lacing the ball into right center field. Gonia flew around the basepaths, scoring with little resistance on the throw back to the infield for a 6-5 walk-off victory.

Pacific led 3-0 early in the game. Yamhill-native Wyatt Hurley hit an RBI single to right field in the fourth and a four-run sixth led by RBI smacks from Jaxson Kister and Ely Kennel gave Linfield a 5-3 lead.

Junior right-hander Matthew Tacheny started on the bump and threw six innings while striking out five. He allowed six hits, two earned runs and a walk before Hampson took over. Hampson threw the final four innings while allowing the same number of hits and runs to walk away with his fourth win of the season.

Less than an hour later, the squads began game two of a doubleheader.

Pacific scored one in the first inning of game two. It was the only one they could muster off Linfield freshman Johnny Ingalls, who pitched five innings and struck out two while securing his first collegiate victory.

Second inning RBI singles from Nick Holm and Jevin Patterson gave the ’Cats a lead, 2-1. In the third, Hurley tacked on his own base hit on a full count, scoring Kennel. Then in the seventh, Rylan Gulard found grass in a hitters count to extend Linfield’s lead to 4-1.

Sophomore righty Colton Ouellette held the score there as he pitched four innings of shutout baseball, allowing six hits and three walks, but escaping trouble with four strikeouts to secure his first save of the year.

On Sunday afternoon, Linfield came from behind with a three-run eighth inning to win 6-3.

Jaxson Kister led off with a single to center, followed by a Kennel hit by pitch. Cole Snidow singled on a bunt to the pitcher, loading the bases with no outs. With one down, Nick Holm hit a ground ball up the middle, plating two go-ahead runs. Mansur brought in a third with a sacrifice bunt down the first base line.

Freshman Luke Schoeffler earned the win in relief, setting down all four batters he faced in 1 and 1/3 innings.

Play with Denison began on Thursday (after News-Register deadline) with game two set for Friday at 5:30 p.m. The final game of the series begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Softball

An anticipated battle of West Coast softball adversaries was decided in Linfield’s favor, as the No. 8-ranked Wildcats (12-2, 6-2) dominated visiting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-6-1, 3-3) in a nonconference doubleheader Monday afternoon at Del Smith Stadium.

Linfield blanked CMS 7-0 in the opener and bounced the Athenas 11-3 in the run-rule shortened finale.

Pitching ace Tyler McNeley spun a one-hit gem, striking out six Athenas on the way to her fourth shutout and fifth victory of the season in game one. On top of her weekend against Willamette, McNeley earned NWC Athlete of the Week honors.

In game two, freshman Destiny Cornwell struck out a career-high six batters as the Wildcats rallied from a three-run, first-inning deficit to complete the sweep with an 11-3 win. Over the set, Linfield out-hit CMS 23-5, led by four hits each over the festivities by senior catcher Ashlyn Aven and sophomore outfielder Breanna Bartek.

The ’Cats hosted the College of Saint Benedict on Thursday before hitting the road to California this weekend with doubleheaders against Whittier College and the University of La Verne.

Tennis

Linfield’s women’s tennis team (1-11, 1-9) broke through Sunday for its first win of the 2026 campaign, beating the Willamette Bearcats (1-9, 1-8) 4-3 in thrilling fashion at the Willamette University Tennis Courts.

The ’Cats found themselves trailing early after being swept in doubles and on the brink of defeat after two early losses in singles, but saw a strong comeback capped off by a three-set win by Kaitlynn Canubida at No. 1 to clinch a Linfield victory.

Linfield is back in action on the road with a match at Occidental College (2-7) on Sunday, March 22. Linfield visits the California Institute of Technology (3-1) in Pasadena the next day before facing California Lutheran University (6-1) for a second time this season on March 25.

In men’s play, Linfield (5-7, 5-4) continued its recent run of strong play Sunday with a commanding 6-1 win over Willamette (1-8, 1-7).

The win was the third in the last four matches for the ’Cats, their best performance over a four-contest stretch in over two calendar years. It secured Linfield’s fifth win of the season, the ’Cats most overall since 2019 and most in NWC play since 2011.

The men’s next match is in Claremont, California, against No. 10 Middlebury (4-0, 3-0) on Sunday. They then visit No. 31 Cal Tech (3-2, 1-0) in Pasadena the following day and conclude their road trip taking on No. 2 University of Chicago (8-2, 1-0) and No. 27 Redlands (3-5, 0-1) on March 25.

Golf

Senior Kellen Hudson’s come-from-behind win at the Willamette Valley Cup and junior Tyler McNeley’s perfect weekend inside the circle earned the two NWC Athlete of the Week honors.

The men’s team picked up its second-straight team win, besting nationally-ranked No. 12 Willamette and No. 19 Whitman behind senior Kellen Hudson’s 65 in the final round at the Willamette Valley Cup last weekend.

Hudson’s performance earned him NWC Athlete of the Week honors as he led the Wildcats at Creekside Golf Club in Salem

Linfield’s women did not have as much luck, placing ninth out of ten teams at the Cup.

The ’Cats were led by freshman Breleigh Garcia, who placed 26th individually with a score of 86 in the first round and 83 in round two. Linfield freshman and McMinnville High alumnus Ainsley Kelly shot rounds of 106 and 105 as an individual, taking 51st place

Both men and women will be back on March 30 when they tee up for the George Fox Invite at Arrowhead Golf Course in Molalla.

Track and Field

The men’s 4x400 relay, featuring Kekai Macabio, Finley Wodke, Luke Niemi and Liam Christensen, recorded a season-best time of 3:25.93 to finish atop five other foursomes at the Rich Allen Classic, hosted by George Fox University at Stoffer Family Stadium.

Christensen was runner-up in the 100-meter dash, clocking a personal-best 10.85 seconds. Christensen also placed fourth in a crowded field of 33 challengers in the 200, recording another personal best of 22.48.

Baylie Thompson took second place in the women’s long jump, soaring 17-4 1/4. Sage Cramp was runner-up in the pole vault with a season-best of 11-3 while teammate Analissa Paresa was third at 10-9. Logan Roberts went 5-1 3/4 in the high jump to claim fourth place. Also earning a second-place ribbon was newcomer Mada Lee in the triple jump (34-2 1/4). Jordan Roberts was close behind in third place (33-10 3/4) and Anna Niyongabire followed in fifth place (33-1 1/4).

McMinnville graduate of 2025 Mya Budzik competed in the women’s 5000-meter race, where she ran to a personal best time of 21:08.33 to place sixth. From Amity, Linfield freshman Kiyan Vrell placed eighth in the hammer toss at 136-07. He also threw the discus 122-08 to finish 13th.

The Wildcats return to action Friday and Saturday in Corvallis, competing in the Oregon State PNW Invitational.

Womens Lacrosse

Apple Riso (4), Savannah Irwin (3), Gabby Crist (2), Heidi Schaefer (2) and Maizri Chandler (2) all scored as the Wildcats (2-3) routed Pacific Lutheran University (1-4) 13-2 on Saturday.

Linfield’s shot differential was 34-8 and was paired with a 17-18 clear success rate.

The ’Cats compete again on Saturday, hosting Pacific at 1 p.m.

Article written with the assistance of Chase Fisk and Linfield Sports Communication.