GILBERT, Ariz. — The College of Idaho baseball team secured a dramatic 7-5 extra-inning victory over Park University-Gilbert on Saturday night, clinching a 3-1 series win in electrifying fashion.
The Yotes' offense came alive in key moments, starting in the fourth inning when a Park-Gilbert miscue allowed the Yotes first run to cross the plate. The bats kept rolling in the fifth, as a clutch RBI groundout from Chandler Stocking and a booming RBI double by Darren Smith gave the Yotes a 3-1 lead.
Momentum swung back and forth throughout the game, with the Buccaneers clawing back to tie it at 3-3 in the sixth. The two teams remained deadlocked until the top of the ninth, when Smith came through once again, singling home the go-ahead run for a 4-3 Yotes advantage.
However, Park-Gilbert refused to go down without a fight. In the bottom of the ninth, a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded forced in the tying run, putting the game on the brink of a walk-off. With the winning run just 90 feet away, the Yotes' pitching held firm with Ben Gaff fanning back-to-back Buccaneers to force extra innings.
In the tenth, the Yotes capitalized on a wild pitch to push the go-ahead run across before a key RBI from Bryan Ebe and a clutch base hit from Jack Ingraham padded the lead to 7-4. Park-Gilbert managed to plate a run in the bottom half, but the Yotes' defense locked down the final outs to seal the series victory.
The College of Idaho returns home next week for a series against NCAA DII foe Central Washington Univ., the first games at Wolfe Field to be played with the new turf. First pitch is scheduled for February 7th at 2pm MT.
