REDDING, Calif. –
Zach Draper combined on a five-hit shutout in the opener and the College of Idaho used a four-run seventh inning to rally to complete a doubleheader sweep of Simpson University at Tiger Field.
The Coyotes (24-7, 12-3 NAIA West North) extended their win streak to nine in a row with 8-0 and 8-7 victories, remaining a half-game back of Lewis-Clark State in the standings.
Draper kept the Redhawks (2-28, 2-11) off-balance in Game 1, allowing just five singles and striking out four – not allowing a runner to reach third in picking up his seventh victory of the season.
C of I scored in each of the first four innings – as
Mitch Skaggs hit his sixth homer of the season in the first; both
Seth Champlin and
Hunter Hanson had RBI singles in the second;
Dalton Ridgway singled, stole second and third and scored on a
Bobby Wright sacrifice fly in the third; with Hanson adding an RBI single in the fourth to make it 5-0.
Hanson added an RBI single in the eighth to extend the lead to 6-0, with
Nathan Hundley singling home a run in a two-run ninth.
Hanson was 3-for-6 with three RBI, with both Hundley and Champlin recording two hits for the Yotes. Dylan Mumford was 2-for-4 in the loss for SU.
Game 2 wasn't easy for the Coyotes, rallying from a 5- 3 deficit in the late innings. The Redhawks scored three runs in the fifth – getting an RBI single from Garrett Yoder and a two-run single – to grab the lead.
C of I cut the margin to a run in the sixth – plating a run fielding error on a
Jake Hennessey double – adding four more in the seventh, including a go-ahead two-run double from Skaggs.
Simpson would not quit, as Yoder ripped a two run single in the bottom of the inning to get the hosts within 8-7. With two outs, George Cecchetti singled to right, but Hennessey threw out Yoder trying to score from second to end the inning.
Ridgway did the rest, retiring six of the final seven batters he faced to pick up his third save of 2016.
Hanson was 2-for-5 in the win for C of I, as
Joel Martin pitched an inning and a third to log the victory. Starter
Jake Eddy went four innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven in a no-decision.
Yoder was 3-for-5 with three RBI and Mumford was 3-for-5 with an RBI in the loss for the Redhawks.
The two teams close out the first half of the NAIA West season tomorrow with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
