LA GRANDE, Ore. –
Wyatt Hankard worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth, helping The College of Idaho take the opener of today's doubleheader with Eastern Oregon at Optimist Field.
C of I was unable to complete the 4-game sweep, as EOU outlasted the Yotes, 6-4, in the series finale.
Summoned from the pen for a second-straight day, Hankard entered the game after EOU (4-20, 4-16 CCC) had trimmed the Yotes lead to 6-5 – but got Blake Loftus to pop out to right, with
Jonah Hultberg throwing Juan Guardado out at the plate to complete a double play. Two pitches later, Adrian Roa tried to score on a wild pitch, but
Dillon Danner flipped to Hankard at the plate for the third out to end the rally.
Hankard worked around three ninth inning walks, striking out Guardado to end the game.
The Yotes (18-21, 10-14) struck in the first, as
Austin Van Horne continued his torrid weekend, smashing a 2-run homer. EOU took a 3-2 lead in the second on a 2-run Brooks Dyer single, but C of I benefitted from a pair of Mountie errors in the fourth to plate three runs and made it 6-3 in the eighth on a
Dillon Danner sacrifice fly.
Dimick Wood struck out eight in seven innings to earn the win, with
Ryan Nolan going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Weston Miller got the Yotes on the board in Game 2, as his 2-out RBI double in the first inning plated Van Horne. EOU battled back, taking advantage of two C of I errors to plate five runs in the second and adding a Carsten Manderbach RBI single in the third to extend the lead to 6-1.
C of I would chip away, as a 2-run
Matthew Clay homer in the fifth cut the lead to 6-3 and plated a run on a Mountaineers throwing error in the eighth – but could not get closer.
Van Horne went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and ended the series with 12 hits – including five doubles and two home runs.
Nick Jennings struck out 11 batters to pick up his second win of the season against C of I.
The Yotes return to Wolfe Field next weekend to close out their home schedule, hosting Oregon Tech in a 4-game series.
