Whits fall one game short of title
After one game of Sunday’s Northwest Conference softball doubleheader in McMinnville, Ore., Whitworth was tied with Linfield in the conference standings with a shot at the program’s first-ever conference title.
But after Game 2 was complete, Linfield freshman Brittany Miller had thrown a two-hitter, and the Wildcats earned their third straight NWC title – and an automatic NCAA Division III tournament berth – with an 11-0 victory in five innings.
Stephanie Rice had three hits to lead Linfield (29-8, 22-6), and Shelly Steinke and Amanda Attleberger each had two RBIs. Jennifer Eckhoff and Heather Case had the only hits for Whitworth (26-12, 21-7).
Whitworth temporarily tied the conference standings in the opener, as Case hit a three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning and the Pirates held on to beat the Wildcats 3-2. Case had three hits to lead the Pirates, and Jo Sonnett earned her 19th win of the season, striking out seven without a walk.
Whitworth still has a shot at an at-large berth into the tournament when pairings are announced May 8.
Baseball
Daniel Macias threw a two-hitter, holding eight of the nine spots in the Gonzaga batting order hitless, as Loyola Marymount completed a three-game West Coast Conference series sweep with a 5-0 victory in Los Angeles.
Seven players had one hit apiece for the Lions (21-27, 8-7), who were led by Kyle Mura’s two-run homer in the seventh inning to cap scoring. Only third baseman Darin Holcomb (Shadle Park) was able to get a hit for the Bulldogs (26-19, 7-8), who have lost four straight.
•David Fox’s sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning scored Roger Guzman and gave Pacific Lutheran a 5-4 victory over Whitworth in the Northwest Conference finale for both teams at Merkel Field.
The Pirates had tied the game in the seventh after Joel Clark’s (Mt. Spokane) RBI double and Ryne Webb’s (Shadle Park) second RBI single of the game.
Guzman led the Lutes (23-17, 13-11) with four hits, while Webb and Dustin Frank (Lakeland) each had two for the Pirates (19-20, 13-11).
•Freshman Brett Kaluza hit an RBI single to tie the game, then scored on a sacrifice fly to score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Washington defeated Arizona 4-3 in a Pac-10 game in Seattle.
The Huskies (30-16, 8-7) held off the Wildcats (20-22, 6-9) in the ninth as ace Tim Lincecum – whose 10 wins lead Division I – came on in relief and threw a scoreless inning for his third save.