McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Linfield belted three home runs and a trio of pitchers combined in holding visiting Whitworth to five hits for a 5-2 Wildcat victory at Roy Helser Field on Sunday in the series finale.

After Whitworth won the series opener, Linfield (17-13, 9-9 Northwest Conference) was able to halt the Pirates' nine-game winning streak and claim the series with wins in Saturday's nightcap and Sunday's finale. The Pirates (21-6, 13-5 NWC) lost their second conference series of the year but hold a two-game lead over second-place Pacific (Ore.) in the NWC standings.

Whitworth opened a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning after Jeremy Druffel produced a one-out double and later scored when JT Phelan reached on a fielding error. The Pirates loaded the bases after Jordan McGowan singled and Joel Condreay was hit by a pitch, but Linfield starter Carter Buuck induced a groundout to limit the damage.

Druffel made a remarkable play to conclude the bottom of the second inning and keep Linfield off the scoreboard, robbing Jake Gellos of a potential home run by climbing the left field wall for a spectacular catch. But the Wildcat offense found success in the third inning by way of a two-out, two-run home run from Scott Hilpert. The homer was his sixth of the season, a total tied for second in the NWC.

Garrett Hughes had a one-out double in the second inning, advancing to third with an error on the play but was left stranded. Jacob Yamane led off the fourth with a double but was also left stranded by Buuck. However, the Pirates did break through to plate a run in the fifth when Matthew Nelson tied the game at 2-2 by smacking his fifth home run of the season, a one-out solo shot, to left field.

The Wildcats answered back with yet another long ball in the bottom of the fifth when David Mason led off with his first career home run. An inning later, Ryan Ross connected for another leadoff home run, also the first of his career. Kekoa Kaulukukui followed Ross with a double, chasing Whitworth starter Ryan Kingma. Later in the inning, pinch-hitter

Ryan Pladson singled home Kaulukukui for a 5-2 lead.

After a two-out walk to Nate Lamberty in the sixth inning, Linfield relievers Dylan Peters and Cody Walker combined to consecutively set down the final 10 Whitworth batters to the plate in the game.

Buuck (2-0) went five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits with three strikeouts and one walk. Peters pitched three hitless innings of relief before Walker closed out the game for his fourth save of the year.

Kingma (6-1) suffered his first loss of the season, tossing five innings and allowing five earned runs on seven hits. He struck out one and walked one. JD Page threw two scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits. Kelly Fitzpatrick threw a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one hit and one walk.

Whitworth's total of five hits was the second-lowest total of the season for a high-powered offense that entered the weekend averaging better than eight runs per game. Druffel, Nelson, McGowan, Yamane and Hughes each had hits for the Pirates.

Hilpert (2-3, two RBIs, run), Ross (2-4, RBI, run), Mason (2-4, two runs, RBI) and Eric Lawson (2-4) accounted for eight of the Wildcats' 10 hits. Four of the 10 hits by Linfield went for extra bases.

Whitworth returns to Merkel Field next Saturday and Sunday for an important series against Pacific. The matchup features the top two teams in the NWC standings, with only three games left on the NWC schedule for each team following the series. The Pirates and Boxers will play a doubleheader beginning at noon on Saturday and conclude the series on Sunday with a game at noon.