KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. –
Payton Lewis went 6-for-9 with two doubles and a home run, with
Matthew Clay adding four hits and two RBI, leading the College of Idaho to a crucial doubleheader road sweep over Oregon Tech at Kiger Stadium.
The Yotes (16-23, 10-10 NAIA West) improved to 6-2 on the road in league play with the 9-3 and 7-3 victories. C of I took 6-of-8 games this season from the Owls and jumped into second place in the NAIA West standings heading into their bye weekend.
C of I rode the right arm of
Tyler Hilton in the opener, as the transfer struck out a season-high nine men in seven strong innings – allowing just one earned run in picking up his third win.
Lewis started the charge with a leadoff single in the first and scored on a
Chase Labbe double. An inning later, Labbe doubled home a pair and Clay added an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-1. The Yotes broke it open in the late innings, as in the seventh, a
Carter Vieira 2-run double and a
Jon Gonzalez pinch hit RBI single pushed the lead to 7-3, with
Austin Van Horne capping the scoring with a 2-run homer in the eighth.
Lewis was 3-for-5 in Game 1, with Labbe, Clay and Vieira all recording two hits. Austin Zavala went 2-for-4 with three RBI in the loss for OIT (9-28, 3-17).
The Coyotes scored the first seven runs of Game 2 and three C of I pitchers worked out of trouble – as OIT stranded 11 runners in the contest.
C of I plated a pair of first inning runs – one on a Van Horne sacrifice fly and another on a
Dylan Mansanarez RBI single.
Alec Hopkins pushed the lead to 3-0 in the second with a sacrifice fly, before Lewis clubbed a 2-run homer in the fourth and a batter later, Clay launched a solo shot to right, extending the lead to 6-0.
Van Horne got the start on the mound and tossed four shutout innings, fanning six.
Connor Root earned the victory, pitching four-plus quality innings. Lewis was 3-for-4 and both Clay and Van Horne had two hits in the win. Josh Kallstrom had the only big hit for OIT, a 3-run ninth inning homer.
The Yotes will have next weekend off in preparation for a 4-game series at Lewis-Clark State, April 12-14.
