DELTA, B.C. - College of Idaho head coach Al Mendiola picked up his 200th career victory, as the Lady Yotes opened their Spring Break trip by splitting a doubleheader with the University of British Columbia at North Delta Park.
The Lady Yotes (18-16) pounded out 13 hits in a Game 1 7-3 victory, while UBC got a two-out two-run single in the sixth inning to salvage a 3-1 Game 2 win.
Mendiola, in his eighth year at the helm of the Yotes, became the ninth coach in C of I history to reach the milestone, joining Tim Mooney (baseball), Shawn Humberger (baseball), Marty Holly (basketball), Clem Parberry (football, basketball, baseball), Babe Brown (football, basketball, baseball), John Calpin (soccer), Liz Mendiola (volleyball), and Reagan Rossi (basketball) in the club.
The C of I grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the opener, as Ashley Van Horne singled home a pair of runs, pushing the lead to 3-0 in the fourth on a Nickayla Skinner RBI double. After the T-Birds (18-15) got a run back in the fourth, the Coyotes took advantage of a UBC error to plate three in the fifth - including an RBI single from Rachael Strong.
Skinner worked around 12 hits to pick up her 12th win of the year, with Strong going 3-for-4 in the victory. Molly Mills, Kayla Webb, Julia Henrie, and Van Horne each had two hits for the Yotes. Cassandra Dypchey had four hits for UBC.
Game 2 was a pitchers' duel between Leigh Della Siega for the T-Birds and the Yotes' Cortni Pena. Dypchey got UBC on the board in the first with a two-out RBI triple, but The C of I tied the score in the sixth on a Henrie RBI single.
The hosts put runners at second and third with two outs in the sixth and Lindsey McElroy came through with a two-run single to give UBC the lead for good.
Della Siega allowed just four hits and struck out nine in the victory, while Pena allowed just six hits and fanned three in the loss. Carlyn Shimizu went 2-for-4 in the win for UBC, while four different C of I players had one hit.
The two teams close out the series tomorrow with a Noon doubleheader.
