CALDWELL, Idaho –
Delaney Atkins hit for the cycle on the day, including a walk-off two-run home run in tonight's nightcap, as the College of Idaho split a Cascade Conference doubleheader with Carroll College at Symms Field.
Playing in their first ever CCC game, the Saints (10-8, 1-1 CCC) took advantage of four unearned runs in a 4-3 victory in Game 1, with the Yotes using a five-run fifth inning to pull away for a 11-2 win in Game 2.
Atkins was 2-for-3 with an RBI triple in the opener, adding a single and double to the homer in the late game, driving in four runs.
In Game 1, the two teams were scoreless through three innings – but CC made the Yotes (4-5-1, 1-1) pay for a pair of errors in the fourth. Tianna Harper reached on an error with a Taylor Otswald one-out double putting runners and second and third. Courtney Cloud followed with an RBI single with a second run scoring on a C of I defensive bobble. An out later, Kaydee Parsons clubbed a two-run home run to extend the lead to 4-0.
C of I chipped away at the margin, as an two-out RBI single from
Alex Kordopatis in the fourth cut the deficit to 4-1, with Atkins ripping an RBI triple and
Ashley Pesek following a with a run-scoring double to get the Yotes with a run. However, Saints starter Megan Gipe retired the final six batters in a row to earn the victory.
Jaylin Kenney was 2-for-4 for the Saints, with Gipe fanning six in her complete game effort. Atkins and
Jodie Hoagland had two hits for C of I, with Pesek taking the loss in the circle – despite not allowing an earned run.
Game 2 was scoreless in the third, when the Saints squandered a two-on, no out opportunity, only to watch the Yotes counter in the bottom of the frame with a
Kristin Paulazzo RBI double to take a 1-0 lead. An inning later, Atkins lined a double off the centerfield wall to plate
Katie Rowe from first base to double the C of I lead.
The Yotes broke the game open in the fifth, as Rowe and Atkins ripped RBI singles;
Hailey Chambers gapped a two-run double; and
Cortni Pena helped her own cause with an RBI double to push the lead to 7-0.
Back-to-back RBI doubles by Allison Bayer and Madison Soper in the sixth got Carroll within 7-2, but in the bottom of the frame,
Destiny Turner lined an opposite field two-run homer, and following a Rowe single, Atkins ended the game with a long drive over the wall in left-center.
Pena was solid in the win, limiting the Saints to just five hits and striking out five – while going 2-for-3 at the plate. Rowe was 3-for-4 with three runs scored; Chambers was 2-for-3, with Hoagland going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Kenney was the lone CC player with two hits, with Ashley Davis allowing seven earned run in four-plus innings to take the loss.
Symms Field hosts four games tomorrow – as Carroll meets Eastern Oregon in a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m., followed at 3 p.m. with the Yotes and Great Falls in a twinbill.
