Caylin LePire had four hits, including walk-off HR in sweep of Great Falls
CALDWELL, Idaho - A pair of walk-off winners lifted The College of Idaho to a doubleheader sweep of the University of Great Falls, as the Lady Yotes earned 5-4 and 8-7 victories this afternoon at chilly Symms Field.
Caylin LePire roped a line-drive solo homer with two-outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to win Game 1, while an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh by Sammy Dodge got Lady Yotes (8-6) even – with a throwing error on the play plating Hannah Johnson with the winning run.
The opener saw the Argonauts (0-2) take an early 1-0 lead in the second on a Lindsay Cline double, but the Yotes drew even in the third on a long solo homer from Dodge, taking the lead later in the frame on one of six UGF errors in the game.
The hosts would push the lead to 4-1 in the fifth on a Molly Mills two-run double to center, before the Argos would draw even in the sixth on an Anna Owen RBI single and a Elyse Sifuentes two-run double. The game would remain deadlocked until the ninth, when LePire lined a ball just over the centerfield wall for her second homer of the season.
Mills went 3-for-4 in the win, with LePire going 2-for-5 for the Yotes. Starter Nickayla Skinner struck out ten batters in six innings of work, while Kayla Park picked up her first win, retiring nine of the 10 batters she faced. Cline had two of the seven UGF hits in the loss.
Game 2 was a wild affair, as the Yotes grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the first on a LePire RBI single and a Kalie Kurdy sacrifice fly. UGF would come right back, cutting the margin in half in the second, when Nikki Shumway dropped an inning-ending fly ball, allowing Cline to score from second, then getting an Owen RBI single in the third to tie the game.
Kurdy gave The C of I a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third with a bad-hop RBI single, before a pair of bases-loaded walks in the fourth pushed the margin to 5-2. The Argos would get within a run in the fifth, before loading the bases with no outs in the sixth, but Park came in and slammed the door, getting a pop-up, a strikeout, and a great running catch from Shumway to work out of the jam.
Skinner added an RBI single in the sixth to give the Yotes a 6-4 lead, but UGF responded, as Kelly O’Brien golfed a pinch-hit three-run homer in the seventh to put the visitors up 7-6. It wasn’t enough, as Mills led off the seventh with a walk and Johnson walked with one-out. Dodge followed with a base-hit through the left side to pick up Mills, but the throw by Amanda Morris was way up the third base line, allowing Johnson to score the winning run.
Janelle Wiebold got the win for the Yotes – despite facing just one batter, with Skinner going 3-for-3 and LePire adding two hits in the victory. Brittanie Thibodeaux and Owen each had three hits in the loss for UGF.
The C of I will host Treasure Valley Community College next Friday in a pair of scrimmages, before opening Cascade Conference play March 18-19 against Northwest Christian and Corban.