Izaac Garsez roped his 9th triple of the season in Yotes Game 1 win over UBC
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Izaac Garsez went 4-for-7 with his school record ninth triple of the season, helping The College of Idaho to a doubleheader split with No. 14 ranked British Columbia, winning Game 1, 6-2, but falling in the late game, 4-0, at Nat Bailey Stadium.
Despite the Coyotes (29-15, 19-9 NAIA West) winning 3-of-4 from the T-Birds, UBC clinched the NAIA West North Division pennant and the No. 2 seed into the NAIA West Tournament in two weeks. The C of I will earn the No. 4 seed in the five-team event in Atherton, Calif., May 4-7.
Game 1 saw the Yotes take advantage of a two-out error to plate a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Gavin Gamboa reached on the miscue and moved to third on a double by Garsez, with Jesse Dodd following with a two-run two-bagger to give The C of I the lead. They would push the margin to 3-0 in the sixth, as Garsez led off with his record-setter, also tying the career school mark with his 18th triple in his third year with the Coyotes – scoring on a passed ball.
UBC (27-14, 23-9) would get a pair of sacrifice flies in the bottom of the frame to pull within 3-2, but the Yotes got key insurance runs in the late innings, as Garsez plated Tanner Hodges, who led off the eighth to make it 4-2, with Jeffrey Harris roping a pinch-hit two-run double in the ninth to cap the scoring.
Joshua Orr got the win with five-plus innings of work, allowing just two hits, to notch his fifth win, while Chad Yeggy tossed three-plus innings of shutout ball to pick up his second save. T-Bird ace Sheldon McDonald took the loss, allowing two unearned runs in four innings.
Game 2 was dominated by UBC’s Shawn Hetherington, who tossed a five-hit shutout to salvage the final game of the series. Typically the T-Birds closer, Hetherington did not walk a man and struck out two in the victory.
An Adam Quan RBI double in the third inning gave the hosts the lead, but the Yotes nearly tied it in the fourth – but Garsez was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a Hodges single, the last base runner in scoring position for the visitors.
UBC broke the game open in the fifth, as Blake Carruthers ripped a two-out bases-clearing double to make it 4-0. Quan and Carruthers each had two hits in the win for the T-Birds.
Levi Mitchum took the loss for the Yotes, going five innings, allowing eight hits, while Kyle Douglas was the lone C of I hitter with two hits.
The Coyotes return home to close out the regular-season this week, hosting in-state rival, Lewis-Clark State in a four-game series at Wolfe Field, beginning with a single game Thursday at 4 p.m.