CALDWELL, Idaho –
Mitch Skaggs hit two of four College of Idaho Game 1 home runs, as the Yotes ran their win streak to 10 games with a 13-3 victory over Simpson University at Tiger Field.
The host Redhawks (3-29, 2-12) took advantage of three C of I errors a non-conference Game 2, plating five unearned runs in a 9-7 win.
The Yotes (25-8, 13-3) victory in the opener helped the club take over sole possession of first place in the NAIA West Grouping North Division, a half-game clear of Lewis-Clark State.
Skaggs had the big bat in the early game, going 4-for-5 with five RBI – part of a 17-hit attack for the Yotes. He now has eight home runs on the season, taking over the NAIA West lead in the category, and equaling Izaac Garsez for the most single-season home runs by a Coyote since the NCAA/NAIA made bat modifications following the 2010 season.
C of I bolted to an 8-0 lead after three innings – getting on the board in the first on a
Cole Mansanarez RBI single, with
Bobby Wright and
Dalton Ridgway adding RBI singles in the frame. A Simpson error, followed by a Ridgway safety squeeze and a Wright RBI double in the second doubled the lead, with
Hunter Hanson launching a two-run homer in the third to push the lead to eight runs.
After SU scored an unearned run in the fourth, the Coyotes countered with a Skaggs two-run blast in the fifth to make it 10-1, with Skaggs adding a second two-run shot, followed by a Mansanarez solo bomb in the seventh to cap the scoring.
Riley O'Brien went the distance allowing just three hits and striking out three for his fifth win. Mansanarez was 3-for-5 with two RBI, Hanson and Wright each went 2-for-5 with two RBI and
Jake Bowman added two hits for the Yotes.
The Redhawks benefited by Coyote miscues in Game 2 to take a 6-1 lead after two innings.
Ridgway gave C of I a 1-0 lead in the first, but a Coyote error in the bottom of the inning was followed by an RBI triple from Casey Meyer and an RBI double from Blaine Hokama to give SU the lead. An inning later, a two-out Coryn Iwamasa RBI single extended the lead, adding three additional runs following a dropped fly ball by the Yotes outfield.
The Yotes played catch-up the rest of the way, getting within 7-6 in the fifth after RBI singles from Ridgway, Wright and
Sam Grise, along with an RBI double from
Jake Hennessey. However, solo homers by the Redhawks Hokama and Matthew Kiyota provided the difference, as reliever Zane Medeiros retired the final eight C of I batters to earn the victory.
Hokama was 3-for-4 with three RBI for Simpson in the win, while Ridgway and Grise each had two hits in the loss for C of I.
The Coyotes open the second half of the NAIA West schedule next weekend with a four-game series at Wolfe Field vs. Corban University.
