KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Despite setting school record for double plays turned in a game, the College of Idaho could not overcome seven errors and 23 Oregon Tech hits, as the Owls swept a doubleheader at Kiger Stadium.
OIT (21-23, 10-13 NAIA West) won the opener, 7-5, before getting a walk-off grand slam homer in the 12th inning to win the nightcap, 6-2.
The Yotes (10-30, 3-21) – who were eliminated from the postseason race – established a new school record with five double plays in Game 1, surpassing the previous record of four, set on 13 different occasions. The 12-inning Game 2 was C of I's sixth extra inning contest of the year, tying a season record.
C of I battled back from two one-run deficits in Game 1 – getting a
Chase Labbe RBI single in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1, with a
Carter Vieira squeeze bunt in the fourth deadlocking the score at 2-2.
Tech took advantage of two C of I errors in the sixth inning to plate three runs to take a 5-2 lead, before the Yotes got a bases loaded walk to
Dominic Conigliaro and a bases loaded hit by pitch by
Jon Gonzalez to get within a run – but OIT scored single runs in their final two at bats to put the game away.
Micah Jio went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead the OIT offense, while Labbe and
Johnny Hyland each had two hits for C of I.
In Game 2, Josh Kallstrom gave the Owls a 2-1 lead in the sixth with a long solo home run – but C of I forced extra innings as Vieira scored in the eighth inning on an OIT error. Kallstrom ended the game with one swing in the 12th, blasting a grand slam homer, his tenth of the year.
Labbe and Vieira each had two hits for the Yotes, with
K.J. Strickland tossing seven strong innings in a no-decision.
C of I returns home this weekend, hosting Lewis-Clark State in a four-game series – with a pregame ceremony on Friday afternoon commemorating the completion of Phase 2 of the Wolfe Field Baseball Stadium.
