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Box Score 2 CALDWELL, Idaho – Gregg Simonds went a combined 5-for-6 with two RBI, helping the College of Idaho to an Easter Sunday doubleheader split with Menlo College at Wolfe Field.
The Coyotes (25-19, 16-12 NAIA West) dropped the early game, 3-2, before using a three-run seventh inning rally in Game 2 to win, 9-5.
C of I finished in a three-way tie for third in the final NAIA West Grouping standings and will earn the No. 4 seed into the five-team postseason tournament, beginning in two weeks. The Yotes will open the tournament on May 1 against the same Menlo squad.
Both teams scored first inning runs in the first game – the Oaks (26-25, 13-15) getting a two-out Kyer Vega RBI double, with the Yotes plating a run on a Mitch Skaggs fielders' choice after a walk and hit by pitch.
Menlo added single runs in the third and fourth to lead 3-1 – getting a Mickey Phelps RBI single, with the eventual winning run scoring on a Chris Freeman homer. C of I got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on a Jordan Grubbs single – but starter Derek Rodrigues and closer John Schott stymied the Yotes the rest of the way.
Rodrigues went eight-plus innings, scattering seven hits for his third win of the season, with Schott retiring all three men he faced for his first save. Daniel Comstock was 3-for-4 with two run scored in the win.
Markus Lively took the loss, throwing eight-plus innings of three run ball, striking out seven.
The Yotes didn't wait to score in Game 2 – as Skaggs lifted a sacrifice fly in the first and Simonds rolled an RBI seeing-eye single through the right side in the third, giving C of I a 2-0 lead. Menlo answered with two outs in the fourth – scoring a run on a wild pitch, another on a James Threw RBI double, and a third on a C of I error, taking a 3-2 lead.
In the fifth, Skaggs tied the game for the Yotes with an RBI single to right, with Simonds scoring the go-ahead run from third on a Nick Muncy ground out. Riley Humberger made it 5-3 in the sixth with an RBI ground out.
The Oaks did not go quietly, as in the seventh, Comstock doubled home a run and Mickey Phelps delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the score. However, C of I countered in the bottom of the inning, putting two on with one out. Grubbs rapped an RBI single to bring in the go-ahead run, with another scoring on an errant throw from the outfield. Jake Hennessey made it 8-5 with an RBI ground out.
Muncy tossed a scoreless inning of relief to pick up the win, with Kyle Garvin getting the final six outs for his team-leading sixth save of 2014. Chase Miller, Simonds, and Humberger all had two hits for C of I, with Comstock and Threw each recording two hits for Menlo.
C of I closes out the regular season next Sunday, hosting Lewis-Clark State in a single non-league game at Noon.
