Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 CALDWELL, Idaho – Jordan Grubbs went 5-for-8 on the afternoon, helping The College of Idaho split a doubleheader with No. 23 ranked British Columbia at Wolfe Field – winning Game 1, 10-5, before falling in extra innings, 10-6, in Game 2.
C of I (20-14, 11-7 NAIA West) jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the opener to win their 11th-straight home win, before rallying late in the nightcap to force extra innings, only to watch UBC plate five tenth inning runs to earn the victory.
The Yotes sprinted out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning of Game 1 – getting RBI singles from Sam Johnston and Riley Humberger, an RBI ground out from Troy Carr, and a Mitch Skaggs sacrifice fly.
After UBC (23-7, 14-4) scored a single run in the third, the Yotes extended the lead to 7-1 in the fourth – including RBI singles from Mehling and Jake Hennessey. The T-Birds tallied two runs without a hit in the sixth and added two more in the seventh, but reliever Mitch Viydo fanned Brian Arthur with the bases loaded to end the threat.
C of I got three key insurance runs in the bottom of the inning, one on a passed ball, and two on a Mitch Skaggs single to left.
Taylor Nicholson earned the win, tossing six-plus innings of seven-hit ball, with Viydo working around a hit and two walks for his second save. Grubbs was 3-for-5, Skaggs was 2-for-3 with three RBI, with Mehling and Johnston recording two hits each. Bruce Yari and Sebastian Wong each had two hits for UBC.
The T-Birds used three long balls in Game 2 to earn the split. Following a two-out catchers' interference call in the third, Matt Spillman hit a long homer to right to give UBC a 2-0 lead. Chase Miller got a run back for the Yotes in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single, but the visitors plated a pair of unearned runs in the fourth thanks to two two-out C of I errors.
The Coyotes battled back in the late innings, as Gregg Simonds was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh to cut the lead to 4-2, while an inning later, a pinch-hit RBI single from Nick Muncy and a run scored on a wild pitch got the Yotes even.
UBC countered in the ninth, as Aaron Horanski hit a wind-blown opposite field homer to give the T-Birds a one-run lead. The Yotes would again respond, loading the bases in the ninth with one out. Hennessey tied the score with a sacrifice fly, but stranded the winning run at third after a nice play at first by Yari took away a hit from Humberger.
The Canadian nine put the game out of reach in the tenth, as Yari crushed a three-run homer – part of a five-run inning.
Arthur was 3-for-5 and Yari was 2-for-5 in the win for UBC. Zach Fabricius got a no-decision for C of I, going eight innings of five-hit ball, without allowing an earned run. Grubbs, Miller, and Hennessey each had two hits for the Yotes.
The teams will close out the weekend series with a doubleheader tomorrow at 11 a.m.
