SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth was able to make the final contest of the season mean something, but visiting Linfield would not be denied its fourth consecutive Northwest Conference softball title on Sunday afternoon at Diana Marks Field. The 8th-ranked Pirates (30-6 overall, 25-3 NWC) won the opener 3-1 to move back into a tie for first place in the NWC standings, but the 2nd-ranked Wildcats (35-5, 26-2) claimed the nightcap 8-0 to win the title.

LaPlante won in the circle and hit a home run

Linfield claims the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. Whitworth will hope for its second consecutive at-large berth in the playoffs. Selections to the tournament will be announced at 9:00 pm on Sunday, May 15th. Brackets and schedules will be announced the following Monday morning.

Game 1: Whitworth 3, Linfield 1 - Box score
Only 24 hours after suffering her first two pitching defeats of the season, Whitworth's Jessie LaPlante almost single-handedly kept Linfield at bay. She tossed a complete game for her 18th win of the season and hit a two run home run.

Stephanie Rice led off the game with a bunt single to short stop and came around to score on a single by Jenny Marshall. But that would be the only runs LaPlante would allow the Wildcats in the game.

Lacey Parry walked to open the bottom of the second inning. After a sacrifice, she stole third base. While she was stealing third, the throw got away from Linfield's third baseman and Parry came in to tie the game. Amber Fowler followed with a single and then LaPlante lifted her fourth home run of the season over the left field wall to give Whitworth a 3-1 lead.

Neither LaPlante, or Linfield starter Brittany Miller, would allow another run over the final five innings.

The Wildcats had runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth inning with Saturday's hero Meredith Brunette at the plate. LaPlante was able to strike out Brunette to preserve the lead.

LaPlante (18-2) allowed seven hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Miller (15-3), who won twice on Saturday, allowed three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

Game 2: Linfield 8, Whitworth 0 (5 inn.) - Box score
Linfield wasted little time rebounding from a loss that ended the Wildcats' 18-game winning streak. Linfield scored two in the first and five more in the second to grab control and they cruised to the conference clinching win.

Amanda Attleberger singled to shortstop to bring home the first run and Brunette, who had her own infield single earlier in the inning, scored when a throw from the catcher back to Whitworth starting pitcher Heather Case was wild.

Jenny Marshall, Brunette and Jena Loop all had RBI doubles in the second inning. Then Attleberger drove a ball deep over the left field fence to complete the five run Wildcat rally.

Attleberger added an RBI double in the fourth for the final Linfield run of the game. The contest ended after five innings based on the NCAA eight-run rule.

Miller rebounded from her loss in the first game to throw a two-hit shutout. She struck out five and walked one to improve to 16-3 this season. Case (7-3) took the loss in the circle for the Pirates, allowing five runs (four earned) on 7 hits in 1.2 innings with one strikeout. Jennifer Eckhoff went the final 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Attleberger finished the game 3 for 3 with her home run, double and four runs batted in. Marshall also had three hits for Linfield and scored three times.

Up Next: Whitworth, which entered the weekend ranked second in the NCAA West Region, must await an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, which would begin on Thursday, May 10th. Host sites are still to be determined. The Pirates set school records for overall wins (30) and Northwest Conference wins (25) in 2007.

Whitworth recognized seniors Lindsay Davis and Jodi Shock between games on Sunday. They are the only seniors on the Pirates' roster. Davis has started all 150 games the Bucs have played in her career, almost all of them at catcher.