LEWISTON, Idaho - The Yotes baseball team was back in action against a familiar opponent in the second-ranked team in the NAIA, the Lewis-Clark State Warriors, in a pair of non-conference games to kick off the weekend, dropping both games by scores of 14-6 and 15-11.
Game one
The Yotes were led on offense by three-hit performances from
Jonah Hultberg and
Jordan Kelly.
Alex McFarland-Smith also contributed two hits in the game. The Warriors got the scoring started with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning on a double and a balk from the Yotes pitcher. The Yotes would answer right back in the top of the second, as Kelly singled to right field, driving in
Alex McFarland-Smith. He would follow that up with an RBI of his own in the third, driving in
Tristen Garland as the Yotes would tie the game at two.
LCSC would then score five unanswered, taking a 7-2 lead after the fourth inning. The next Yote run would come courtesy of
Kris Kirkpatrick, blasting a three-run shot to right field, which was his first long ball of the 2023 campaign. The final Yote run would come from
Skyler Sadora, who doubled to left field which scored Hultberg.
Trevin Hope earned the win for the Warriors, improving his record to 3-0 on the year.
Nick Eliason was tabbed with the loss, as his record dropped to 1-1.
Game two
The nightcap of the doubleheader saw multi-hit games from Hultberg and from
Kirby Robertson, going 2-4 and 2-5 respectively. The Yotes jumped out to a hot start, taking a 7-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Robertson led off the scoring by singling to right field, which scored
Ben Gaff.
Jake Denison followed that up with a two RBI double, scoring Robertson and Kelly.
Skyler Sadora hit his third long ball of the year later in the inning, as that homer would drive across Garland and Denison.
In the bottom of the inning, the Warriors would drive runs across on a double and a pair of singles, as LCSC would chip away at the Yotes lead by driving four runs across. In the top of the third, the Yotes would tack on three more on a two RBI single from Hultberg and a wild pitch which scored Denison. The Warriors would then strike for 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth on three walks and three singles, capped off by a grand slam from Jakob Marquez.
Decker Stedman earned his first win of the campaign, pitching 3.2 innings and striking out a pair while only allowing one hit.
Colby Durski was tabbed with the game two loss, as his record dropped to 1-1.
The Yotes and Warriors will be back on the diamond in Lewiston tomorrow for a single game, followed by the series finale taking place on Monday.
