George Fox’s Clay Gartner out-dueled Linfield’s Chris Haddeland in a matchup of the nation’s winningest pitchers. George Fox athletics photo

Top-ranked Linfield saw its 16-game win streak halted in a 4-3 loss, thanks to the arm of George Fox senior Clay Gartner as part of the top 25 slate on Friday April 18. Gartner, dueling with Wildcat standout Chris Haddeland, held the defending national champions to only six hits and one run over nine innings. Haddeland was just as stout, striking out nine Bruins, but George Fox designated hitter Danny Clifford sparked the home team offense with three hits. Linfield came back for a 12-3 win in the nightcap.

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The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Althletic Conference had a huge set wrap up when No. 4-ranked UW-Whitewater and No. 5-ranked UW-Stevens Point split on Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium. A day after the host Warhawks swept their league rivals and the 2013 NCAA Division III College World Series participant Pointers, Stevens Point salvaged a victory winning game one 5-2. Whitewater took the series three games to one with a 5-3 decision in the nightcap as senior right fielder Michael Gonzalez drilled two hits and drove in two runs.

The rest of the D3Baseball.com top 10 solidified its recent rankings with wins. While second-ranked Webster and No. 3-ranked Concordia-Chicago were idle and No. 9-ranked Trinity (Texas) opened a series at Centenary, it was a perfect 5-0 sheet for No. 6-ranked Southern Maine, No. 7-ranked Cortland State, No. 8-ranked Kean and No. 10-ranked Heidelberg. The Student Princes took two of the five wins from the group sweeping Wilmington in OAC to maintain their lead. Senior Andrew Zenczak guided Heidelberg with six hits and six RBIs.

Chapman's 9-3 win over Whittier on Friday put three teams at the top of the SCIAC standings. Chapman athletics photo

No. 13-ranked St. Thomas continued to take aim at a 12^th straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Althletic Conference crown by sweeping St. Olaf in a pair of 4-3 wins to increase its win streak to 12. A seven-run sixth inning game one rally from No. 25-ranked Ithaca made St. John Fisher the third top 15 team to fall 7-2, but the Cardinals rebounded for an Empire Eight split, winning game two 3-2. No. 15 Tufts produced its second straight double-digit run total, rolling past NESCAC rival Colby 10-1.

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No. 16-ranked Salisbury and No. 17-ranked Cal Lutheran each added wins to their season totals. No. 19-ranked Birmingham-Southern, shaking off a recent three-game skid, upped its current win string to five, gained the 30-win mark and locked up the Southern Athletic Association champion by sweeping Rhodes 5-2 and 3-2 on the road. The news for No. 20-ranked Concordia University of Texas wasn’t as good, as Texas-Tyler took a pair from the Tornadoes to conclude a series sweep and tighten up the American Southwest Conference standings.

Wrapping up the top 25, No. 21-ranked Buena Vista momentarily took sole possession of the Iowa Conference lead, sweeping the University. Second-place Wartburg and third-place Loras begin a pivotal four-game set at Hertel Field in Waverly Saturday, April 19. No. 22-ranked Gettysburg saw its remarkable 23-game win skein halted by the Johns Hopkins pitching pair of Carter Burns and Zach Augustine in a 2-0 loss that ended their Centennial Conference set in a split. No. 23-ranked York College of Pennsylvania and No. 24-ranked Wheaton College of Massachusetts also took wins.