by Kelsey Segren, Sports Information Assistant

SPOKANE, Wash. – Visiting Linfield won both games of Sunday's doubleheader, 8-2 and 14-8, to earn the series win over Whitworth in Northwest Conference softball action at Diana Marks Field.

Whitworth drops to 9-17 overall and 7-7 in conference play. Linfield improves to 28-4 overall and 17-3 in NWC action.

Maddy Thomas led the Pirates, finishing 5-7 with six RBIs, three home runs and four runs scored on Sunday. Six of Thomas' eight home runs this season have come against the Wildcats.  

Game 1 – Linfield 8, Whitworth 2

Whitworth led by one run before Linfield tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth. The Wildcats then used a five-run sixth inning to top the Pirates in Sunday's opener.

Thomas hit her first of three home runs of the day in the top of the first, driving home Kaylie Lowery to give the Pirates an early 2-0 lead. The Wildcats held the Pirates scoreless through the next six innings.

Kamryn Mobley, who went 4-4 at the plate, drove in a run with a double in the second inning to make it a one-run game. Whitworth maintained its 2-1 lead until the top of the fifth, when Mobley scored on a Pirate fielding error.

Jenny Ball doubled to score the go-ahead run in the sixth and open the five-run frame. The Wildcats scored all five runs with two outs.

Maddy Podnar (12-2) pitched a complete game for the Wildcats, allowing two runs on seven hits.

Kylie Harris (0-4) took the loss in the circle, allowing six runs on eight hits in 2.2 innings pitched. Corinne Vasiloff got the start for the Pirates and allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits through the first 4.1 innings.

Game 2 – Linfield 14, Whitworth 8

Linfield secured the series win with an 18-hit game in the finale. The Pirates hit a season-high four homers to score all eight of their runs. Thomas finished 4-4 with four RBIs, three runs scored and three extra-base hits. The junior hit a home run in the first and seventh inning.

Thomas and Heather Menzer hit back-to-back homers in the bottom of the first to give the Pirates a three-run advantage.

Linfield scored two runs in the second before adding six more in the top of the third to take an 8-3 lead. All six of the Wildcats' runs in the third were scored with no outs.

A three-run homer from Jessica Rusconi in the bottom of the third brought the Pirates within two but Linfield got those runs back in the top of the fourth. Abi Proffitt got her fourth RBI of the game with a two-run single to extend Linfield's lead to 11-6.

The Wildcats added two runs in the fifth and led 14-6 after a solo home run from Katie Phillips in the seventh.  

Thomas hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, her second of the game, to bring the score to 14-8 but the Pirates were unable to get any closer.

Tayah Kelley (12-2) pitched a complete game for the Wildcats, allowing eight runs on 13 hits. She struck out six Pirates.

Drea Schwaier-Wolf (4-7) was credited with the loss, allowing six runs on nine hits in two innings of work. Melanie Laronde relieved Schwaier-Wolf in the third and allowed eight runs on nine hits through the next five innings.

Coming Up: Whitworth will be on the road next weekend to take on George Fox, who is tied for first with Linfield in the NWC standings.