MGolf wins the conference in a nail-biter at Linfield, many a spring sport playoff hopes are in doubt

Students of Willamette play a game of pickup soccer with the ducks. Graphic by Alyssa Diggdon.

Hello, Bearcat fan! My headline might be a bit oxymoronic, but regardless of one’s personal opinion on the sport of golf, this was an eventful, perhaps confusing, week in Bearcat sports. With high highs and some very low lows, the playoff hopes of our dearest spring teams hang in the balance as we approach the end of April. This week seemed to clear approximately nothing up in terms of how each team’s season will end. Well, in some cases.

Men’s golf won the conference after finishing No. 2 at the NWC Championship in McMinnville. Across the Fall Classic, Spring Classic and Championship, the Bearcats bested the Whitman Blues by in stroke totals 1737 to 1744, earning a bid to the National Tournament. 

Women’s golf, or more accurately, Saida Seelig (’26), finished 37th out of 39 competitors at the women’s NWC Championships, also in McMinnville. 

Baseball had an eventful week, routing our cross-town enemy Corban University at home 18-9 on Tuesday, then enduring four back-to-back losses versus Linfield in a home one-off and Puget Sound in a three-game series in Tacoma. These four losses may have dashed playoff hopes for the Basecats, as they now sit at No. 7 in conference with the season winding down.

Softball is still in the running for the playoffs, currently sitting No. 5 in the conference — just a spot shy of qualifying for the tournament. They managed to scrape back two wins against last-place Puget Sound in Tacoma this weekend after losing the first two of the four-game series, effectively keeping their chances alive. But at this point, their hopes of achieving a No. 4 spot may be left entirely up to fate, with the only regular season matchups remaining against the No. 6 Boxers and the formidable No. 1 Linfield Wildcats.  

Lacrosse went 1-1 in their Whits trip, battling back from a five-goal deficit on Friday to win 17-12 against the Pirates in Spokane but losing the next day 18-15 against the Blues in Walla Walla. The ʼCats currently sit tied at No. 3 in conference with Linfield, whom they’ll face for senior day next Sunday. 

In the world of sport: The NBA playoffs are underway, and on Sunday, the Memphis Grizzlies endured a very humiliating 51-point loss at the hands of the OKC Thunder in game one of the Western Conference first round. Otherwise, everyone (me) is hoping the Orlando Magic can miraculously upset the Boston Celtics (they won’t) and that the Bucks can come back from an 0-1 deficit to defeat the Pacers so that Dame can finally get his ring. I’m certain everyone reading this shares my exact opinions. Why else would one read the news? Oh, and the Stanley Cup playoffs are happening. I’m sure this matters to someone, but I know nothing about hockey.