CALDWELL, Idaho – In a game spanning two days, the College of Idaho rallied from a 7-0 first inning deficit, tying the game in the ninth and picking up a 13-12 extra inning walk-off victory over Montana State Billings at Wolfe Field.
Austin Van Horne blasted a two-out, game-tying three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings – which was delayed due to darkness for 18 hours. C of I (7-9) won the contest in the tenth, as
Dylan Mansanarez singled home
Nate Hundley with the clinching run.
The Yellowjackets (4-3) claimed the regularly scheduled contest, scoring six runs in the final three innings for a 9-2 win.
MSUB took advantage of three walks and two hit by pitches in the first inning of the suspended game – with Jalen Garcia lining a two-run triple in the seven-run rally.
C of I answered with three runs in the second – two coming on a
Nick Mooney single – and adding three more runs in the third, to cut the margin to 7-6. Unfortunately a pair of Coyote errors in the fourth led to four MSUB runs, helping the visitors regain a 5-run lead.
An RBI single by
Dominic Conigliaro in the sixth, a
Ryan Murkle RBI single in the seventh and a
Kole Lane RBI single in the eighth got the Yotes within 11-9 – but the Yellowjackets seemingly put the game away in their ninth with an unearned insurance run.
However, the Coyotes got singles from
Chase Labbe and Mooney, with Van Horne following with a long homer to left-center to force extra innings. After MSUB stranded the go-ahead run at second base in their tenth, Lane was hit by a pitch, with Hundley, the pinch runner, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a steal. Mansanarez followed with a two-strike RBI single through the middle to cap the comeback.
Murkle and Mooney each had three hits, as the Coyotes recorded a season-high 16 hits.
Niall Manning allowed an unearned run in five-plus innings of work, striking out five.
Miles Bigelow got the win, working a scoreless tenth.
In the late game, C of I struck first – taking advantage of two MSUB errors in the opening inning to plate a run, only to see the Yellowjackets string together three two-out third inning hits, including an RBI double from Andrew Schleusner and an RBI single by Garcia, to grab a 2-1 lead.
The Yotes tied the game on a Mooney RBI fielders' choice, but MSUB took the lead for good on a Kade Hall RBI single in the fifth – adding two runs in the seventh, three more in the eighth and a run in the ninth, to put the game away.
Sam Wong and Carson Woolery combined on the four hitter, striking out 12 batters, with Conner Linebarger going 3-for-5 for MSUB.
Conigliaro picked up his first loss of 2018 for the Yotes despite striking out six in six innings of work. No Coyote had a multi-hit game.
C of I opens up NAIA West action next weekend, hosting British Columbia in a four-game series.
