SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Entering the bottom half of the eighth inning down four runs, the College of Idaho rallied with four runs of their own but surrendered the game-winning run in the top half of the final inning to fall to William Carey (Miss.) 7-6 in the final elimination game of Day Two at the Santa Barbara bracket of the Opening Round of the NAIA Baseball National Championships.
William Carey (39-20) got the game-winning run by way of a Wes Brown dinger in the top half of the ninth inning.Â
The Coyotes (39-23) were unable to rally for consecutive innings with their season on the line - going down in order in the bottom half of the final inning.
C of I trailed by four runs in the eighth and sent
Bobby Wright to the plate with the bases loaded; Wright delivered with a moonshot over the left-field wall as the grand slam knotted the game up at six.Â
The Yotes used four different pitchers in the game, combining for just four earned runs and seven strike outs. The C of I defense committed six errors in the loss with both runs scored in the first being unearned and the run scored in the sixth also being unearned.
William Carey will advance to tomorrow's elimination game in a rematch versus Westmont. The winner will advance to play and needing to defeat twice, The Master's (Calif.) for a trip to Lewiston, Idaho, for the National Championship Final Site tournament.
