CALDWELL, Idaho –
Nick Mooney had five hits on the afternoon, as the College of Idaho claimed their first series win of 2019, splitting today's doubleheader with Oregon Tech at Wolfe Field.
The Coyotes (9-11, 3-1 NAIA West) squandered a 6-0 lead in the opener, as OIT rallied for an 8-6 win, while C of I returned the favor in the second game, battling from an early 2-0 deficit to win 7-6 – taking the series, three games to one.
GAME 1 – Tristen Shea roped a two-run double in the top of the ninth inning to break a 6-6, as the Owls (5-9, 1-3) scored eight unanswered runs to earn the victory.
C of I was in command through six innings – as an
Austin Van Horne two-run homer in the first got the hosts rolling.
Chase Labbe made it 3-0 with an RBI double in the third;
Alec Hopkins plated a run in the fourth with an infield out; Mooney blooped an RBI single in the fifth; with
Matthew Clay lining an RBI single in the sixth to extend the margin to 6-0. However, the Yotes squandered a chance in the sixth, loading the bases with no-outs, but could not plate another run.
Tech capitalized on the momentum swing – batting around for six runs in the seventh. Micah Jio cleared the bases with a 3-run double, with Austin Zavala tying the game with a two-out RBI single.
In the ninth, Alex Malcolm led off with a single and moved to third on a Josh Kallstrom double. Following an intentional walk, Shea lined a ball just out of the reach of a diving Mooney in left, scoring a pair to complete the comeback.
Ben Hood tossed three shutout innings of relief to earn the win, with both Jio and Malcolm recording three hits.
Van Horne and Mooney each had three hits for C of I, with
Connor Root taking a shutout into the seventh, before OIT rallied.
GAME 2: C of I rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to pick up the series clinching victory – as
Tyler Hilton threw eight innings, working around nine hits to log his first win of the year.
Tech scored single runs in the first and second innings, as Malcolm lifted a sacrifice fly in the first and an inning later, Shea launched the first of his two home runs in the night cap.
The Yotes got even in the fourth, as
Payton Lewis tripled and scored on a Labbe sacrifice fly, with the tying run scored on an OIT error. After Malcolm gave the Owls a 3-2 lead with a fifth inning RBI double – C of I battled back in the bottom of the frame – scoring runs on a Van Horne ground out and a Labbe single to take a 4-3 edge.
C of I added three runs in the seventh – including a Lewis RBI double and a Mooney run scoring single – with the insurance runs looming large. OIT scored a pair in the ninth and had the tying run aboard, before Labbe got Kallstrom to fly out to pick up his first collegiate save.
Lewis, Mooney and Clay all had two hits for the Yotes, with Shea and Nevan Watanabe each recording three hits for OIT.
C of I returns to action next weekend, hosting Pacific Lutheran in a three-game series.
