Wildcat Roundup: Baseball sweeps; wrestling, swimming near ends; tennis off to whirlwind start

Baseball

First-year Head Coach Jordan Harlow got his Wildcats (3-0) off to a historic start as they completed a three-game series sweep of the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers (2-5). It's the Wildcats first three-game series sweep to open a season since 1978.

Linfield opened the series at Roy Helser Field by erasing an 8-0 deficit over the final four innings to win their first game on Friday, Feb. 13, via a wild pitch walk-off, 10-9.

Junior outfielder Jaxson Kister was a force in the contest, going 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 8-6. Junior catcher Cole Snidow was responsible for the ninth inning tying run, smacking a double into left field to tie the game at 9-9 after EOU found one run in the top half.

Kister scored the winning run with sophomore third baseman Wyatt McClory at the plate.

Emmerson Dennis, Brian Mannion and Yamhill Carlton graduate Wyatt Hurley combined for 3 and 2/3 innings of one-run ball to silence EOU after a seven-run outburst in the top of the sixth. Hurley was credited with the win.

On Saturday, the bats stayed alive in a 14-4 victory. McClory (2-for-4), sophomore left fielder Rylan Gulard (2-for-4) and senior second baseman Ely Kennel (2-for-5) led the charge with three RBI each, while Kennel and Gulard each hit one over the fence, along with a solo-shot from junior first baseman Luke Porter.

Freshman Jack Williams recorded the win on the mound, pitching five innings while striking out four and allowing two walks, three runs and seven hits.

On Sunday, Linfield trailed 2-1 before a five-run sixth inning sailed them to a 6-2 victory.

Snidow (2-for-4) and senior right fielder Josh Mansur (1-for-3) each had two RBI and contributed to the late comeback.

Hurley recorded the win, throwing one and 1/3 hitless innings with two strikeouts. Junior Seattle native Zack Hampson earned the save with two and 2/3 innings with one hit and two strikeouts.

The Wildcats are back in action for a four-game set at No. 16 La Verne starting on Friday.

Wrestling

Linfield men's wrestling ended the dual season by taking down NWC-rival Pacific University on the road, 30-16.

McMinnville High alumni Max Vander Meide dropped his 133-pound match by an 11-4 decision, and fellow Grizzly grad Lucien Lefebvre was downed via forfeit. Despite early losses, Trey Dieringer and Camden Roofener revolted, as Dieringer pinned his opponent late in the first period of the 184-pound bout. Roofener followed suit with a first-period pin of his own.

The Wildcat women fell 29-14 in their dual versus Pacific, with seniors Klaira Flatt and Ayana Medina earning the only Linfield victories. Flatt forced a 9-3 decision, while Medina pinned her opponent in the first period of the 160-pound match.

Both squads hope to make an appearance at the NCAA DIII Upper Midwest Regional tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Swimming

Linfield swimming teams wrapped up the 2026 NWC Championships on Sunday at the Idaho Central Aquatic Center in Boise, where it was the first time competing at the NWC's newest host site.

Senior Kirsti Keppo claimed her second consecutive and third overall women's 1,650 freestyle title, while the men's team improved to a third-place finish, beating out Whitman by clipping the Blues in the final men's relay of the meet.

 Both Linfield teams found themselves in tight races to close out the meet, where the men's squad downed Whitman's group by less than one second in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Samuel Postlewait, Nathaniel Wilson, Rocco Velie and Carson Washburn were responsible for the win with a time of 3:08.21.

 Overall, the ’Cats earned 16 finalists on the final day of the meet.

The NCAA DIII Championships are March 18 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tennis

In Linfield women's tennis, the program dropped a pair of matches at home Sunday, falling to NWC foe Willamette 4-3 in the morning before losing in the evening 4-0 to California Lutheran of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

 The long day for the Wildcats inside Rutschman Field House sandwiched a match on the men's side between Linfield and Cal Lutheran as well, setting a nine-hour gap between the women's first serves of each match.

On the men's side, Linfield completed a mixed-venue doubleheader with mixed results Sunday to wrap up a grueling three-match weekend that saw several Wildcats forced to the bench due to illness.

 After opening NWC play Saturday with a win at Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington, the Wildcats traveled Sunday morning to visit Willamette, before returning home to host Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent California Lutheran.

 Linfield (2-2, 2-0) began the day sweeping Willamette (0-2, 0-2) 7-0 to secure the program's first 2-0 start to league competition since 2010, before falling to Cal Lutheran (2-1, 0-0) 4-2.

Both Wildcat teams head north to face defending NWC champion Whitman (1-2, 1-0) in Walla Walla, Washington, on Saturday before traveling to Spokane, Washington, the next day to play the Whitworth Pirates.

 Linfield then hosts Whitman the following weekend on February 28.

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