2020 Baseball Notebook - Week 7

LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO: Live Stats and Live Video of all four games of the weekend series will be available for fans unable to make it to Wolfe Field through C of I's Stretch Internet Portal.

COMPLETE MEDIA GAME NOTES
 
NOTE CHANGES TO WEEKEND SCHEDULE: Because of the angle of the sun behind home plate in the late afternoon, the Coyotes have moved the start time on both Friday and Saturday up one hour. Friday's single game between C of I and Park Gilbert is now set for 2 p.m., with Saturday's doubleheader now scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday's single game is still set for an 11 a.m. first pitch.
 
YOTES HAVE TOUGH TRIP NORTH: C of I closed their road trip with a 2-6 mark after Lewis-Clark State took all four games of a weekend set in Lewiston. Big innings were the demise of the Coyotes, as LCSC scored at least three runs in an inning seven times, with Warriors pitchers holding C of I to a .173 batting average with 37 strikeouts.
 
HULTBERG CONTINUES GREAT START: The outstanding freshman season for Jonah Hultberg continued in Lewiston, as the rookie went 5-for-14 with two doubles, two RBI and two stolen bases in the series. Hultberg, who leads the Yotes with a .370 batting average, six doubles, 13 walks and 17 RBI, recorded his fourth 3-hit game of the season in Game 3.
 
MILLER HAS SOLID SERIES: Weston Miller was the lone C of I player to record a hit in all four games of the series. The catcher improved his batting average to .288 with his 4-for-13 effort, with Miller leading the team with eight hit by pitches on the season and takes a 5-game hit streak into the weekend.
 
NOLAN SEES HIT STREAK SNAPPED: Infielder Ryan Nolan extended his hit streak to 13 games and his consecutive games reached base streak to 20 before seeing the marks snapped in Lewiston. The hit streak was the longest by a C of I batter since Mitch Skaggs, Hunter Hanson, Cole Mansanarez and Dalton Ridgway all posted 14-game runs in 2016, with the consecutive games reached streak the longest since Skaggs reached base in 24-straight contests in 2016.
 
ROOT GOES THE DISTANCE: Connor Root pitched eight innings in Game 2 of the series at LCSC – his second-straight eight inning start – equaling his career high, while logging the Yotes second complete game of 2020. Root allowed just two runs on seven hits, striking out four batters, dropping his ERA to 6.75 – ranking second on the team with 32.2 innings pitched on the season.
 
BOWMAN KEY IN THE PEN: Sophomore Jared Bowman continues to be the Coyotes No. 1 right-handed option in their bullpen, making a pair of key appearances in the 4-game series. Bowman threw four total innings, allowing just one run on five hits against the potent LCSC attack, lowering his ERA to 3.38. He had made 10 appearances in 2020 – tops among all NAIA West pitchers.
 
VAN HORNE GETTING SWINGS AND MISSES: Senior Austin Van Horne continues to be one of the top strikeout pitchers in the NAIA West, recorded his third straight game with at least eight strikeouts. The right-hander worked four-plus innings in Game 4 of the series, striking out nine men and now has 37 strikeouts in just 22 innings on the year. Van Horne ranks second in the league in total strikeouts, but leads the circuit in strikeouts per nine innings pitched (14.91).
 
FRESHMAN HAS BEST WEEKEND: True freshman Luke Brewer shook off a tough first month of the season with back-to-back quality performances in Lewiston. The lefty did not allow a hit or a run in 2.2 innings of work, lowering his ERA four full points to 9.26.
 
SUPERLATIVES: The Coyotes are 6-1 this season when leading after six innings, but the team is 0-16 when trailing after four innings and 1-13 when allowing six runs or more. In the L-C State series, C of I went a combined 9-for-79 with the bases empty (.114), 5-for-30 (.167) with runners in scoring position and hit .128 with two outs – as the Warriors held the Yotes to 10 total runs in the 4-game series.
 
AROUND THE NAIA WEST: British Columbia joined L-C State atop the league standings, sweeping a 4-game series in Vancouver over Oregon Tech – allowing just 10 total runs in the series. This weekend, Corban returns after a week off to host UBC, while the OIT-LCSC series has been shifted to Sunday-Monday due to potential inclement weather.
 
FINAL NON-LEAGUE GAMES: C of I closes out the non-conference portion of the schedule this weekend with four games against Park University from Gilbert, Ariz. It is the third non-league home series of the season, with the Coyotes 2-6 in those games, with C of I a combined 4-13 in non-conference games in 2020.
 
OPPONENT PREVIEW – PARK UNIVERSITY GILBERT: Park-Gilbert is a first-year athletic program in Arizona, part of the Park University system based in Parkville, Mo. The Buccaneers (10-16) are currently a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association, but plan to join the NAIA this fall and join either the California Pacific or Golden State Athletic Conferences. The squad began the season 9-5, but have lost 11 of their last 12 games – with the team posting a .244 team batting average and a 7.44 team ERA. Starting pitchers Aaron deGroot (2-4 5.84 ERA) and Jair Reyes (2-2 6.95 ERA) have been key in the Bucs success – with deGroot recording 47 strikeouts in 37 innings of work. Shortstop Cade Maestas (.423 1 HR 11 RBI), second baseman Julian Garcia-Schroeder (.305 0 HR 10 RBI) and designated hitter Alex Moreno (.307 2 HR 14 RBI) have been the top bats in the Park lineup.
 
AGAINST NON-NCAA/NAIA TEAMS: Since baseball returned to the College in 1987, the Yotes have played three other opponents that were not affiliated with either the NAIA or the NCAA. In 1987, C of I earned an 11-2 win over West Coast Christian; between 1992 and 1995, the Coyotes went a combined 4-4 against the National Baseball Institute of Canada, while C of I posted three wins over Bethesda of California between 2014 and 2016. During the early days of Coyote baseball, C of I played games against Mountain Home Air Force Base and the Idaho State Penitentiary, along with local club teams.
 
RECORD BOOK: One Coyote player is currently in the Top-25 career record book – as Austin Van Horne is currently No. 11 in games started (176) and in at bats (643), No. 19 in walks (63), No. 20 in games played (177) and No. 22 in triples (4).
 
HISTORY: C of I has had a rich history of baseball, dating back to the era when C of I was an academy. In recorded history (since 1934), the Yotes have posted a 1,578-1,260-7 all-time record, including 34 trips to the postseason (including playoff appearances in 30 of the last 33 seasons. C of I won the 1948 and 1949 Northwest Conference titles, with the 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2010, 2012, 2016 and 2017 teams advancing out of conference/regional/grouping tournaments – making five trips to the NAIA World Series – winning the 1998 national title and placing second in 1999. The Yotes have had multiple players drafted and play in professional baseball – with Jason Simontacchi ('96) the last C of I player to see action in the major leagues, and both Riley O'Brien and Zach Draper (in 2017) the last players to be drafted in the MLB First-Year Players Draft – with O'Brien finishing 2019 at Class-AA Montgomery in the Rays organization and Draper at Class-A Great Lakes in the Indians farm system.
 
LOOKING AHEAD: The Yotes close out an 8-game homestand with a 4-game weekend series against Oregon Tech, with doubleheaders set for next Saturday and Sunday.