Linfield softball returned to the NCAA Division III championship for the second straight year, finishing with a 50-4 record and ending as the No. 3 team in the nation. The ’Cats won their first 44 contests, becoming just the second team in collegiate softball history to register an unbeaten regular season, and came within one victory of the 51-3 season recorded by the 2011 national championship team.
At the championships in Marshall, Texas, the top-seeded Linfield team opened with a 2-1 win over Tufts University, followed by a 4-2 win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh to cement a spot in the semifinals. There, the team’s magical run came to an end with back-to-back losses to Belhaven University.
Pitcher Tayah Kelley ’24, second baseman Brynn Nelson ’25 and center fielder Claire Seats ’25 were named National Fastpitch Coaches Association first-team All-Americans. First baseman Kaili Saathoff ’25 was named a second-team All-American and pitcher Tyler McNeley ’27, a first-year student, joined the third-team.
