VANCOUVER, B.C. –
Miles Bigelow struck out Austen Butler with the tying runner at second base to lift the College of Idaho to a thrilling 2-1 victory over British Columbia in the championship game of the NAIA West Grouping North Division Championships at Thunderbird Park (Photo Courtesy Rich Lam - UBC Athletics).
The victory clinches the Coyotes (24-28) an automatic bid to the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round for a second-straight year and C of I's eighth overall trip to Nationals. C of I will travel to one of nine Opening Round sites for games May 15-18 – learning their destination and opponents on Thursday.
It marks the Coyotes first title since winning the 2002 NAIA Region I championship at Simplot Stadium over the same UBC team. C of I also claimed the 2012 NAIA Opening Round Azusa Bracket title en route to their most recent trip to the NAIA World Series.
Host UBC (32-16) limited the Yotes to just two hits on the day, but C of I made both of them stand up.
Johnny Hyland walked to start the fourth inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt – with
Cole Mansanarez delivering Hyland with an RBI single to right-center to give the Yotes a 1-0 lead. After the T-Birds tied the score in the fifth on a solo Anthony Cusati homer,
Dalton Ridgway walked, moved to second on a ground out and took third on a wild pitch.
Dominic Conigliaro followed with a sacrifice fly to plate the eventual winning run.
Anthony Martine did the rest – grinding through eight-plus innings, working out of jam after jam. The lefty stranded runners at second and third in the second; a runner at second in the fifth; runners at first and second in the seventh; and runners at the corners in the eighth. Catcher
Sam Grise helped Martine out, throwing out a pair of would-be base stealers.
In the ninth, Martine walked the leadoff batter and was lifted for
Miles Bigelow – who worked around a sacrifice bunt and pop-up, closing the game out with a strikeout of Austen Butler to set off the celebration.
Martine allowed nine hits, walked two and struck out eight to pick up his team-leading seventh win of the season, with Bigelow recording his third save and second in as many games.
T-Birds starter Niall Windeler was the tough-luck loser, allowing just two hits and striking out nine in the complete game effort. Tyler Yorko and John Whaley each had two hits in the loss for UBC.
NOTES:
- It marks the second-straight year C of I has eliminated UBC on their home field – as the Yotes topped the T-Birds, 12-9, in the semifinals of last season's tournament.
- Since the NAIA went to the Opening Round process in 2010, the Coyotes have qualified four times – 2010 (Riverside, Calif.), 2012 (Azusa, Calif.), 2016 (Santa Barbara, Calif.), 2017 (TBA)
- It is the first time the Yotes have qualified for the NAIA Championships in back-to-back seasons since 1998, 1999 and 2000 – winning the 1998 NAIA Championship and finishing second in 1999
- C of I allowed just two runs in the tournament, with their pitching staff combining for 29 strikeouts and just four walks – while making just two errors in the three games.
- Opening Round sites will be located in Bellevue, Neb.; Montgomery, Ala.; Lawrenceville, Ga.; Kingsport, Tenn.; Lima, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Bartlesville, Okla.; Hutchinson, Kan.; and Hattiesburg, Miss.
