CALDWELL, Idaho – The College of Idaho kept their Cascade Conference Tournament hopes alive as the Lady Yotes split a doubleheader with No. 12 ranked Oregon Tech at Symms Field.
The Yotes (18-30, 9-17 CCC) used a seven-run third inning in the opener to win 9-7, while Tech plated two eighth inning runs to earn a 9-7 victory in Game 2. The win for C of I, coupled with two Southern Oregon losses at Eastern Oregon, keep the Coyotes alive in the postseason hunt, needing a sweep over SOU tomorrow and a pair of wins next week by Concordia over the Raiders, to earn the final berth in the five-team tournament.
McKenzie Shrum got OIT (36-12, 20-6) on the board in the opening inning of Game 1, lining a solo homer over the left field wall. The lead held until the third, when C of I sent 11 batters to the plate – recording their biggest inning at home this season. The Yotes tied the game as Destiny Campbell scored on a double steal; taking the lead on a Chelsea Szymanski RBI single. Katie Rowe scored on a passed ball to make it 3-1; Courtney Ellis plated a run with an RBI fielders' choice; Jodie Hoagland doubled in a run, followed by a two-run Campbell double to make it 7-1.
Tech cut the lead in half in the fifth as Ashley Sfetku golfed a three-run home run to center, making it 7-6 in the sixth on a Ariel Fulkerson two-run double – but the Owls stranded runners at second and third.
Alexis Macias answered for the Yotes, hitting a long two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to give the hosts a three-run cushion. C of I needed the tallies, as a Tara Moates two-out RBI double cut the lead to 9-7, but a fly ball out closed out the game.
Ali Longoria worked around four runs and eight hits for the victory, as Campbell, Rowe, Macias, and Szymanski each recorded two hits. Moates and Tre Sullivan each had three hits for OIT.
Tech scored three second inning runs in Game 2, getting a Kayla Prock sacrifice fly and a two-run Moates single to take an early lead. C of I battled back, cutting the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the inning – scoring a pair off an OIT throwing error – while in the third, consecutive RBI singles from Hoagland, Campbell, and Destiny Turner, gave the Yotes a 5-3 lead.
Trailing 6-3 in the sixth, OIT got a Shrum RBI single, followed by a three-run homer from Moates, to regain the lead, only to watch Szymanski drive in a run in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly to tie the score.
In the eighth, Shrum led off the inning with a solo homer to give the Owls the lead, adding a Tasha Silvius RBI double to give OIT a two-run lead. C of I would put the tying runners in scoring position with two outs, but a ground out ended the Yotes final threat.
Jessi Duncan got the win in relief for OIT, throwing two scoreless innings with Moates going 3-for-5 with five RBI. Hoagland, Campbell, and Turner each had two hits in the loss for C of I.
The Yotes close out the regular season tomorrow at 11 a.m. with a doubleheader vs. Southern Oregon, with C of I honoring its 2015 senior class with a ceremony between games.
