KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Oregon Tech finished on the right side of a pitchers' duel and a slugfest, as the Owls claimed a pair of 1-run victories from The College of Idaho at Kiger Stadium.
OIT (8-12, 3-3 CCC) got a Dalton Daily 2-out, 2-run homer in the eighth inning to provide the difference in a 3-2 victory in the opener, while a walk-off hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the tenth inning gave the Owls an 8-7 win in Game 2.
The Coyotes (11-14, 3-7) erased an early 1-0 deficit in Game 1 – as a
Jonah Hultberg sacrifice fly in the third and a
Ryan Nolan sacrifice fly in the seventh gave the visitors the lead. However, Daily's big fly in the eighth was the dagger, as C of I left the bases loaded in the ninth to close out the game.
Dimick Wood was outstanding for the Yotes in a no-decision, tossing seven innings of four hit ball, striking out nine.
Matthew Clay provided the firepower in Game 2, ripping an RBI single in a 2-run fifth that got C of I even at 2-2 and adding a go-ahead 2-run single in the sixth to give the visitors the lead.
After OIT regained the lead,
Jonah Hultberg capped a 2-run eighth with a solo home run to get the Yotes even at 6-6. Tech manufactured a run in the bottom of the inning to take a lead, before
Tanner Leaf answered in the ninth with a clutch 2-out, RBI double to force extra innings.
In the tenth, a one-out walk and a double from Micah Jio was followed by an intentional walk to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Nevan Watanabe was hit by a pitch to force in the winning run.
Hultberg, Clay and Nolan each had three hits in the loss, with
Silas Shumate throwing four-plus innings of 3-hit relief, striking out six.
The two teams close out the weekend series tomorrow with an 11 a.m. (PDT) doubleheader.
