Jody Zillner tossed her sixth shutout of 2009 in win over NNU
Zillner Tosses One-Hit Shutout in Split with NNU
NAMPA, Idaho - Jody Zillner tossed a one-hit shutout in the opener and Heather Dixon smashed a pair of home runs, as The College of Idaho softball team split a doubleheader at Northwest Nazarene, taking the opener, 6-0, but losing the late game, 4-0, at Halle Field.
For Zillner, it was her second one-hitter of the season and the eighth in program history, while she notched her 18th win of the season - tying the school record for wins in a year. The junior faced just two batters over the minimum, allowing a Haley Hevern RBI single in the fifth and a Dana Shipley walk in the sixth.
Offensively, the Coyotes (29-16) jumped out quickly, as Dixon hit a long opposite field two-run home run in the first, with Stacy Smith knocking in her 100th career run later in the frame to make it 3-0. After a rain delay, Dixon added her 16th home run of the season in the third, a solo shot, to make it 4-0. Haley Butcher had an RBI single in the fourth, with Zillner helping her own cause with an RBI double in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Zillner went 3-for-4 in the win, with Smith, Butcher, and Amy Rhoades all adding two hits for the Yotes - who clinched the season series with NNU (9-40) for the eighth-straight year.
Game 2 was decisively different, as the Yotes allowed many of their starters to rest - and the Crusaders took advantage - ending C of I's nine-game win streak. A two-out, two-run single by Kierra Pancheri in the fourth got NNU on the board, Brooke Hesselgesser added an RBI single in the fifth, with Pancheri doubling in a run in the sixth to cap the scoring for the hosts.
Chelsey Anderson allowed just four hits to stymie The C of I attack - as Nikki Shumway recorded two hits for the Coyotes.
The Lady Yotes close out the regular-season this weekend with a Friday doubleheader at Southern Oregon and a Saturday doubleheader at Oregon Tech. A win at SOU would clinch the CCC championship and automatic berth to the NAIA Women's World Series in Decatur, Ala.