PHOENIX, Ariz. –
Niall Manning and
Drew Klassen combined for eight innings of one-run ball and
Ryan Murkle delivered a big ninth inning two-run double, as the College of Idaho evened their four-game series at Arizona Christian at a game apiece with a 5-3 victory at Firestom Field.
Manning allowed just two hits and fanned five, with Klassen allowing an unearned run on four hits with four strikeouts to get the Yotes (1-1) in the win column.
Dalton Ridgway worked around a one-out home run in the ninth inning to close out the game.
C of I got to Firestorm (3-2) starter Dillon Eaves in the sixth inning, as
Devon Pogue singled and pinch-runner
Nathan Hundley moved to third on an ACU throwing error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Hundley scored on an ensuing double play ball to give the Yotes the 1-0 lead. An inning later,
Mason Stidham delivered a two-out RBI single to plate Murkle from second base to add to the lead.
After ACU scored an unearned run in the eighth, C of I got much-needed insurance runs in the ninth. A one-out walk, a fielding error and a wild pitch put runners at second-and-third for the Yotes, with Murkle gapping a double to left-center to push the lead to 4-1. Following a wild pitch, Stidham drove home Murkle with a ground ball to give C of I a four-run cushion.
The Yotes would need the support as Jonathan Nunnally hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Firestorm, but Ridgway got a ground out and strikeout to close out the win.
Pogue went 2-for-3 in the victory for C of I – which was limited to four hits by four ACU pitchers.
Eaves struck out nine batters in six-plus innings in the loss for the Firestorm – with Nunnally and Hector Ortiz adding two hits for ACU.
The two teams will close out the series with a doubleheader tomorrow at 10 a.m. – with complete coverage available online at
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/acu.
