CALDWELL, Idaho – Playing the final home doubleheader of their College of Idaho careers, the Coyotes sent 10 senior student-athletes out in style, sweeping Simpson University 7-4 and 16-0 at Wolfe Field.
The Yotes (35-18, 22-13 NAIA West) finished third in the NAIA West North Division standings and will travel to Vancouver, B.C., for the NAIA West Grouping Tournament – beginning Friday afternoon against host British Columbia – with a berth to the NAIA Championships on the line.
Today, however, was about the seniors – as
Jake Guza had a pair of hits and two RBI; pitcher
Russell Sweet had a pinch hit RBI single; and
Brady Winfield tossed a pair of scoreless innings in relief.
Seth Champlin added two hits and three RBI;
Jake Hennessey had three hits and scored three runs; and
Mitch Skaggs added a hit and two runs scored.
C of I struck first in the second inning of Game 1, as a
Johnny Hyland sacrifice fly and a Champlin two-run single to right gave the hosts a 3-0 lead. The Redhawks (4-50, 3-32) answered with a three-run third – as a Dylan Mumford RBI fielders' choice, a Matthew Kiyota bloop RBI single and a balk evened the score.
Cole Mansanarez gave the Yotes the lead for good in the fourth, blasting a two-out, three-run double off the left field wall, with C of I making it 7-3 in the fifth on a SU throwing error.
Reliever
Drew Klassen was solid, throwing a career-best five and a third innings, allowing a run on three hits, fanning seven, to earn his second win of the weekend.
Bobby Wright got the final three outs for his sixth save of 2016. C of I was limited to just five hits in the win, but took advantage of seven walks and four hit by pitches by Redhawk hurlers.
Game 2 was dominated by the Coyotes – scoring five first inning runs to take a lead that was never headed.
The first five C of I batters reached in the opening frame, as singles from Hennessey and Skaggs was followed by an RBI single from
Hunter Hanson. After a walk to Mansanarez, Wright plated a pair with a two-run single, with sacrifice flies from Hyland and
Sam Grise extending the lead to 5-0.
Hanson added an RBI single in the second, before the Yotes broke the game wide open with a six-run fifth. Wright had his second two-run single of the game; Guza, Champlin and Hennessey followed with RBI singles; with a sixth run scoring on a wild pitch.
The Yotes capped the scoring in the sixth, as Sweet, in his first collegiate at bat, flared an RBI single to right and scored on a two-run Guza triple; with Guza scoring on an SU error.
Four C of I pitchers combined on the shutout – as freshman
Niall Manning went the first three innings, striking out two – handing the Redhawks their 21st-straight loss. Hennessey and Hanson each had three hits, with Wright going 2-for-3 with four RBI and Guza going 2-for-4 with three RBI.
NOTES:
- The Yotes will be competing in the playoffs for the 33rd time will make their 29th postseason appearance in the last 30 years
- The 35 wins by the squad is their third 35-win season in the last 10 years and the 13th time in program history that the club has achieved the feat
- Three seniors did not see action in today's doubleheader – as Andrew Peterson and Zach Cooper were nursing injuries, while Joel Martin got the win in yesterday's Game 2; Austin Moorhouse saw action in Game 2, going 0-for-2
