NEWBERG, Ore. -- Competing in their first Northwest Conference Championship tournament game in program history, the Lewis & Clark Pioneers lost in the opening round, 11-1 in six innings, to the Linfield Wildcats at Morse Athletic Fields. 

Lewis & Clark will go against the fourth-seeded Whitworth Pirates in an elimination game on Friday at 11 a.m. 

The third-seeded Pioneers were competing in their first NWC tournament game after winning 13 conference games, their biggest win total since 1990. Lewis & Clark is one of just two teams this season to beat both top-seeded George Fox and No. 2-seed Linfield in a NWC game. 

Olivia Brackin had two extra-base hits including the Pios only run on a lead-off, fifth-inning home run. Mari Alvarez had the team's other hit.

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Key Moments

Entering the tournament with the third-highest win total in the NWC this season, Lewis & Clark starter Alyssa Abe retired six of the first seven batters she faced, a stretch that included her only strikeout of the game. Linfield scored its first run on Emma Podliska's pinch-hit home run in the third to give the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead.

Linfield (34-7, 22-6 NWC) shifted the score in the fourth inning on five runs, six hits from 10 batters to step in during the inning. Katrina Johns hit a two-RBI home run. The Wildcats added two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth, the latter coming on Baily Paul's three-RBI, walk-off home run.

Alvarez hit a one-out single to open the sixth and gave the Pios their first base runner since the second inning when Brackin hit a double. Tayah Kelley threw a complete-game win and struck out five for Linfield. 

Looking Ahead

Lewis & Clark (17-14, 13-11 NWC) faces Whitworth on Friday in an elimination game. The winner will face the loser of the George Fox-Linfield match-up from the early afternoon. 

The Pios regular-season series against Whitwoth was cancelled due to coronavirus issues. Whitworth lost to George Fox, 8-2, on Thursday.