CALDWELL, Idaho – Kyle Garvin was near perfect, leading a stellar day for the College of Idaho pitching staff, as the Yotes opened a four-game series with Dickinson State with a doubleheader sweep at Wolfe Field.
Four pitchers combined to toss 18 shutout innings for the Yotes (12-7) in 9-0 and 6-0 victories.
The story was Garvin, as the right-hander flirted with history, taking a perfect game into the ninth inning of Game 1. The senior got the first out in the ninth, before Blue Hawks (3-4) catcher Ryan Risse hit a slow grounder deep in the hole at shortstop. Mitch Viydo bobbled the ball and threw wildly to first, but would not have gotten the runner, with Risse awarded a hit. Garvin retired the next two batters in order to complete the first one-hit shutout by the Yotes since Jason Roach and Andrew Brock beat Northwest Nazarene, 4-0, in 2006.
No C of I pitcher has thrown a no-hitter since baseball returned to the College in 1987, with the last previous no-hitter recorded by Bob Perkins in 1958 against Boise Junior College.
Garvin threw just 83 pitches in picking up his fourth win of 2015, striking out seven batters.
The Yotes gave Garvin plenty of run support in the middle innings, as Matt Hamilton singled home a run, followed by a Jake Hennessey RBI triple, to give C of I a 2-0 lead in the fourth. The Yotes batted around for four runs in the fifth, adding a pinch-hit Zach Fabricius RBI single in the sixth and run scoring hits from Lee Johnson-Harris and Viydo in the seventh.
Hennessey was 3-for-4 with two RBI in the win, with Viydo, Hamilton, Fabricius, and Chase Miller all recording two hits.
Pitching dominated Game 2, as Markus Lively recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in the victory. The lefty allowed just four hits and two walks – not allowing a runner past second base.
The Coyotes got all the run support they needed in the first, as Troy Carr plated a run with an RBI ground out and Hamilton hit an RBI double off the center field wall.
C of I made it 4-0 in the fourth on back-to-back RBI single from Jordan Grubbs and Viydo, and then added two in the sixth on a Seth Champlin triple and a Brady Mooney RBI single.
Viydo was 2-for-3 – his sixth-straight multi-hit game, with Champlin also adding two hits.
The series closes with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at Noon.
