South Oregon News

Catball heads to Kentucky for Pioneer Classic

IN THE RANKINGS
Linfield will face three ranked opponents at the Pioneer Classic on March 17-19 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The Wildcats enter the tournament ranked No. 11 in the latest NFCA Division III Top 25, released Tuesday. Transylvania was unranked in the preseason poll but started the season strong to make the jump to No. 13. Last year's national runner-up, Trine is ranked third in the poll while 25th-ranked Washington-St. Louis rounds out the group.
 
LINFIELD AT A GLANCE
Linfield is 8-2 overall and 4-0 in Northwest Conference play. The Wildcats saw another NWC series postponed last week. Their series at Willamette will be made up on March 24-26 while the Whitworth series in Spokane was moved to April 12-13.
 
Tayah Kelley went back to back as the NWC Pitcher of the Week to open the season. She's off to a 6-0 start with two shutouts, 45 strikeouts and a 1.27 ERA while leading opposing batters to a .199 batting average. Tyler Warden has been the No. 2 starter so far, posting a 2-1 record with a 4.79 ERA in five appearances and four starts.
 
Cydney Hess leads the team with a .500 batting average and a .516 on-base percentage. Kaili Saathoff is batting .459 with a team-leading 17 hits and 11 RBI. Claire Seats has five doubles on the year while Baily Paul has scored 12 times in the leadoff spot. Paul is 8 for 9 on stolen base attempts.
 
CALVIN AT A GLANCE
Calvin (7-3) competes in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Most of the offensive production has come from Sydney Duong and Kali Yant, both of whom are batting above .400. Duong leads the way in hits (16), runs (10) and RBI (11) and is a perfect 4 for 4 on stolen base attempts. Yant has 14 hits and 10 RBI. Every pitcher for the Knights owns an ERA under 3.00. Zoe Hazelhoff and Emma Ludema are both 3-0 in the circle. Hazelhoff owns a 0.30 ERA in five appearances and two starts while Ludema posts a 1.91.
 
TRANSYLVANIA AT A GLANCE
Transylvania (9-3) is a member of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Stella Wulker and Annie Schuck have driven in 12 runs apiece. Wulker is batting .429 with a .762 slugging percentage. Schuck has 16 hits and is also batting above .400 with a team-leading .485 average. Carlee Jeter and Sophie Moshos are the clear aces for the pitching staff. Jeter is 5-1 with a 2.73 ERA while Moshos is 4-2 and leads the Pioneers with 34 strikeouts.
 
TRINE AT A GLANCE
Trine (10-2) also competes in the MIAA with Calvin. The Thunder fell in two games to Christopher Newport in the finals of the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships. The only two losses this season were against Virginia Wesleyan and Christopher Newport. Cassie Woods' 14 hits and 10 runs are both tied for the team lead. Debbie Hill is batting .400 with a .543 on-base percentage and a .743 slugging percentage. Hill has also been the most efficient pitcher for the Thunder, entering the week with a 3-1 record, a 1.25 ERA and 8.15 strikeouts per seven innings.
 
HANOVER AT A GLANCE
Hanover (4-10) joins Transy in the Heartland Conference. Lauren Beaman has been the top arm in the circle with two wins and a 3.40 ERA in 47.1 innings pitched. Kensie Bradley's .364 batting average and 16 hits lead the Panthers. Carson Kruse is the team's RBI leader with eight while Kendra Hutchison has scored nine times.
 
WASHINGTON-ST. LOUIS AT A GLANCE
WashU enters the week with an even 4-4 record and has not yet played a game in University Athletic Association play. Three out of the four teams the Bears played this season went to the NCAA Championships in 2022. They will also face Illinois College, another team who went to last year's tournament, right before arriving at the Pioneer Classic. Natalia Pilpil is the team's leader in batting average (.476), on-base percentage (.542), slugging percentage (.810) and hits (10). Holly Stoner is 2-1 in the circle with a 1.88 ERA.
 
ANDERSON AT A GLANCE
Anderson is the third team from the Heartland Conference that Linfield will meet at the Pioneer Classic. The Ravens have not played a game yet entering the tournament. They went 7-27 overall and 3-13 in conference play in 2022.
 
HISTORY
Linfield dropped a 1-0 game to Transy in the only meeting between the two programs at last year's NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Wildcats went 2-1 against WashU on their way to winning their first NCAA Division III national championship in 2007. The title clincher was a 10-2 win over the Bears. The 'Cats are 2-0 with a pair of shutouts against Anderson. The most recent meeting was an 8-0 win in 2012.
 
Linfield will go head to head for the first time with Calvin, Trine and Hanover. 

Original source can be found here