Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MESA, Ariz. – Pounding out 24 runs on 26 hits, the College of Idaho softball finished a perfect six-game tour of the Phoenix metro with a doubleheader sweep of Benedictine Mesa.
With the 14-12 and 10-1 wins, the Yotes (6-0) are off to their best start in the 18-year history of the program, surpassing the 5-0 start by the 2012 team.
Kylie Smith drove in seven runs in the double-header,
Trystin Crofts had six RBI, with
Taylor Eakle slamming a pair of home runs.
GAME 1: The Yotes battled back from deficits of 2-0 and 8-7 – scoring in every inning outside of the first – in the highest combined score of a single game in program history.
After surrendering a 2-run McKenzie Turman double in the first inning, C of I regained the lead in the second – loading the bases with no outs, with Smith clearing the bags with a triple off the center field wall. A Crofts third inning double was followed by an
Emily Aspden RBI single to extend the lead to 4-2.
The lead grew to 7-3 in the fourth after an Eakle RBI single and a two-run
Delaney Atkins base hit – but the Redhawks (0-2) batted around in the bottom of the inning – with a Turman 2-run single capping a 5-run rally to give Ben-U the 8-7 lead.
Crofts answered with the big blow, a long grand slam homer to left – giving the Yotes the lead at 11-8 – with Eakle extending the margin to 14-11 in the seventh with the first of her long balls. A Marisa Coleman RBI double pulled the hosts within two runs and brought the tying run to the plate, but reliever
Nichole Giesy got Turman to pop up to end the game.
Atkins was 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Smith, Crofts, Eakle and Aspden each had two hits. Raylene Cortes earned the win in relief, allowing four earned runs in three-plus innings of work.
Coleman went 5-for-5 with four RBI for Ben-U, with Turman adding three hits and four RBI.
GAME 2: C of I broke open a pitchers' duel – plating four runs in the fourth and adding a 6-run fifth to earn the mercy rule victory.
Vanessa Marquez got Ben-U on the board in the first, doubling home a run – but Giesy, earning the starter for C of I locked down the Redhawks line-up – allowing just three hits the rest of the way for her first collegiate win.
After stranding the bases loaded in the third, C of I exploded in the fourth – as
Haley Loffer led off with a triple and scored on a
Hannah McNerney infield single. After an Aspden single, Smith gapped a double to give the Yotes a 3-1 lead – with a fourth run scoring on a hit by pitch to Atkins.
An inning later, the Coyotes batted around for six runs – with Smith knocking in two with a single, Crofts doubling home a pair and Eakle capping the big inning with a long 2-run homer.
Smith was 3-for-4 with four RBI, with Loffer and Aspden each recording two hits. Raychele Hernandez went 2-for-2 in the loss for Ben-U.
C of I will take the next two weeks off, next competing on Feb. 16 – a scrimmage against the College of Southern Idaho.
