CALDWELL, Idaho –
Colette Robert tossed a 3-hit shutout and
Hannah McNerney scattered four hits in a complete-game effort, as the College of Idaho clinched a spot in the Cascade Conference Championships with a doubleheader sweep of Carroll College at Symms Field.
The Yotes (30-8, 16-4 CCC) reached the 30-win plateau for the first time since 2014 season – riding three early runs in a 3-0 victory in the opener, while plating four unearned runs in the fifth inning of a 5-1 Game 2 win.
Robert held the Saints (14-19, 7-13) to just one hit over the first five innings, with Carroll failing to get a runner to third base in the contest. The senior walked one batter and fanned seven – surpassing the 300-strikeout mark in her C of I career.
Trystin Crofts got the hosts on the board in the opening inning with a long solo homer to left, with C of I adding a pair of insurance runs in the second inning.
Aleah Mendiola blooped an RBI single to right to score pinch runner
Kona Bustos – after a
Taylor Eakle double – with Mendiola stealing second and scoring when the throw went into center field.
Allison Williams took the loss for the Saints despite allowing just five hits and striking out three.
Carroll struck first on a long solo blast from Anna ApRoberts in first inning – but McNerney settled down, tying a career-high with six strikeouts – not allowing a Saints runner to third base over the final six innings.
Bentli Corta got the Yotes even in the third with her first homer of the season and started the fifth inning rally – reaching on a dropped third strike.
Emily Aspden beat out an infield single and
Kylie Smith drove Corta home with a double just inside the left field line.
Marissa Maddox pushed the lead to 3-1 with a bases loaded walk and
Delaney Atkins extended the margin with a 2-run bloop single to right.
Aspden went 2-for-3 in the win for the Yotes, with Tess Eaton striking out six in a losing effort for Carroll.
The two teams close out the weekend series tomorrow with an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
