Kalie Kurdy hit two home runs for Lady Yotes in Game 2
CALDWELL, Idaho - Nickayla Skinner hit a two-run homer and tossed a two-hitter in the opener for The College of Idaho, but a six-run first inning in Game 2 helped Corban University salvage a split of today’s Cascade Conference doubleheader at Symms Field – the Coyotes winning Game 1, 3-2, with Warriors claiming the late game, 10-7.
Skinner was dominant in Game 1 – taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning, striking out 10 batters, her fifth game with 10-or-more strikeouts this season. The Coyotes (11-7, 3-1 CCC) took an early 1-0 lead in the first as Nikki Shumway led off with a triple and scored on a Kristen Haugen single.
The score would stay the same until the fifth, when Skinner launched a two-run homer to center. The Yotes would need the runs – as a pair of errors in the sixth led to two runs by the Warriors (11-8, 3-1), as Stephanie Nippert and Tamara Feb had run scoring singles. Corban loaded the bases with one out, but Skinner got back-to-back strikeouts to get out of the jam, then got Nippert to fly out in the seventh with the tying run aboard, to end the game.
Shumway and Haugen each had two hits for the Lady Yotes – who extended a win streak to six, while Makenzie Marchbanks took the loss for Corban, allowing seven hits in the complete game effort.
Game 2 started with a bang for the visitors, as Nippert lined a two-run double to left and Rachel Conard lined an RBI double to right to make it 3-0 before an out was recorded. Emma Winckler followed with a two-run homer and Erica Fitzgerald added a solo shot to spot Corban to the 6-0 lead.
The C of I would cut the lead in half in the second, as Hannah Johnson roped a bases-clearing double, but the Warriors would respond in the third, as a two-run double by Lounette Jackson keyed a four-run inning to push the margin to 10-3.
The Yotes would mount a rally, as Kalie Kurdy hit a two-run homer in the fifth to cut the lead to 10-5, adding a second longball in the seventh to get within 10-6. The C of I would leave the bases loaded in the fifth and two on in the seventh to close the game.
Conard, Winckler, and Jackson all had two hits for Corban, while Kurdy, Skinner, Dodge, and Caylin LePire each had two hits for the Yotes, part of a 14-hit attack.
The C of I continues their homestand next weekend, meeting Oregon Tech on Friday and Southern Oregon on Saturday.