CALDWELL, Idaho – The College of Idaho opened Cascade Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Northwest on Friday afternoon at Symms Field.
C of I (9-7, 2-0 CCC) capitalized on defensive miscues from the Eagles (0-6, 0-2 CCC) to tally a seven-run first inning on the way to an 11-3 win in five innings in Game 1, with the Yotes then coming out on top by a 1-0 final in Game 2.
In the first inning of the opener, Northwest committed three errors defensively to give C of I the early 7-0 advantage on just two hits, which came on a
Trystin Crofts RBI single and a
Haley Loffer run-scoring double later in the frame.
The Eagles scored for the first time in the fourth inning to make it 7-1, with the Yotes answering back in the bottom half with a
Kylie Smith sacrifice fly to score Loffer after she had tripled down the line in right to lead off.
Leading 8-1, C of I yielded two runs to Northwest in the fifth before answering back with three of their own in the bottom half to end the game early.
Hattie Hruza started the rally with a leadoff double to right-center, followed by a
Lacie Miller sacrifice fly to plate her.
Mallory Copeland then chipped in an RBI single to score
Micha Fortune, with a Loffer double to right-center bringing in
Lysette Villegas from second to end the contest.
Loffer went 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk, two RBI and two runs. Fortune scored two runs as well.
Yotes starter
Katelyn Wilfert (4-3) earned the win by working the full five innings and allowing four hits and three runs. The right-hander struck out six batters and walked just one.
In Game 2, C of I right-hander
Hannah McNerney (3-3) was virtually unhittable, allowing just a leadoff base hit to start the game before shutting the down the Eagles the rest of the way in a complete game one-hit shutout performance.
To pick up all the run support McNerney would need, the Yotes turned a leadoff single by
Sydney Zachry into the lone run of the game in the third inning. With runners on the corners and two outs,
Aleah Mendiola stole second base, with Zachry coming around on the back-end as a result of the throw.
Zachry, Mendiola and Hruza picked up the hits in the second game, which lasted just 85 minutes.
Both teams return to play on Saturday at 11 a.m. for another doubleheader, which can be watched live on the Yotes Digital Network.
