College of Idaho-Oregon Tech Split Softball Doubleheader
Mike Safford - SID
CALDWELL, Idaho - Jody Zillner tossed a four-hit shutout and hit a two-run homer in the opener, but Oregon Tech had four extra –base hits and took advantage of four College of Idaho errors in the nightcap, as the two Cascade Conference rivals split today’s doubleheader at Symms Field.
The Coyotes (10-10, 7-5 CCC) ran their win streak to five with a 4-0 Game 1 win, while the Owls (22-18) won the late game, 8-3.
Zillner helped her own cause in the bottom of the first, launching a long homer to right centerfield, giving the Yotes a 2-0 lead. She would get some insurance in the sixth, as the first four hitters reached via singles, with Kalie Kurdy’s line-shot through the hole at short making it 3-0, and a Caylin LePire sacrifice fly pushing the margin to 4-0.
It was enough for the senior, limiting OIT to just four infield singles, as the Owls did not get a runner to third base. Zillner fanned eight batters in picking up her eighth win of the year, while recording the only multi-hit game for either squad, going 2-for-3.
Tech used a barrage of hits early in Game 2 to gain control – getting a Jess Plummer RBI single, a Taylor Schmidt safety squeeze, and a Kayde Schaefer RBI single to make it 3-0 in the first. The Yotes got an RBI doubles from Dani Villyard and Kristen Haugen in the first to cut the margin to 3-2, but OIT got a Brittany Cherry RBI double in the second and added a Schmidt RBI single and a Schaefer RBI double in the third, to make it 6-1.
Nikki Shumway had an RBI double in the fourth to get the Yotes within 6-3, but Shumway was thrown out at the plate on an infield single by Brittany Wenzel to end the threat. OIT would add a pair of unearned runs in the fifth inning to put the game away.
Plummer went 3-for-4 in the win for the Owls, with Schaefer adding two hits and two RBI. Shumway, Kurdy, and Wenzel all had two hits in the loss for the Yotes.
The C of I returns to action with back-to-back non-conference games, Monday at Utah Valley, and Tuesday at home vs. Northwest Nazarene.