CALDWELL, Idaho –For the third time this season, Oregon Tech opened a 4-game series with College of Idaho with a Day 1sweep, stopping the Yotes 7-3 and 15-9 at Wolfe Field.
The Owls (16-20, 11-11 CCC) moved into second-place in the league standings with the two victories.
C of I (18-23, 10-16), who have swept both Day 2 doubleheaders this season with Tech, will look to even the season series in tomorrow's 11 a.m. doubleheader. It will mark Senior Day for the nine Coyote senior student-athletes.
Dalton Daily went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles in the Game 1 win for OIT – who jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings and withstood a Coyote comeback.
The Yotes cut the margin to 4-3 – as
Tanner Leaf ripped a 2-run second inning single and
Weston Miller added a third inning sacrifice fly – but the hosts could not get closer. OIT added single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to put the game away.
Starter Patrick Arman tossed his second complete game of the season for Tech, allowing two earned runs and striking out four.
Connor Root took the loss for C of I, striking out seven in seven innings, as eight different Yotes had one hit.
Game 2 was a slugfest, as the Coyotes erased a 2-0 first inning OIT lead – getting RBI doubles from
Austin Van Horne and
Matthew Clay in a 3-run opening frame, with Clay blasting a long 3-run homer in the fourth to push C of I's lead to 7-2.
However, OIT answered in a big way, as back-to-back homers from Kellen Mendez and Zach Stockton capped a 6-run fifth inning to give the visitors the lead. After C of I regained the lead in the sixth on a Clay RBI double, the Owls plated a pair in the seventh and five more runs in the eighth to break the game open.
The loss spoiled a big game from Clay, who went 4-for-5 with two doubles and homer and five RBI.
Reliever Jesse Dunham got the win for OIT, tossing three-plus innings of shutout relief.
