Taylor Nicholson improved to 4-0 with win over L-C State
LEWISTON, Idaho - Taylor Nicholson tossed seven strong innings and Tanner Hodges drove in three runs as The College of Idaho won today's series finale with Lewis-Clark State, 9-6, at Harris Field.
The win for the Yotes (19-8, 5-3 NAIA West) earned a series split with the No. 13 ranked Warriors - the first series split with L-C since the 2002 season.
L-C (20-8, 11-4) took an early 1-0 lead in the first, as Trent Bridges lifted a sacrifice fly to score Jordan Payne, who singled, stole second, and moved to third on an error. The C of I got a clutch two-out, two-run single from Hodges in the third to take a 2-1 lead, then batted around for five runs in the fourth. An pair of errors by the Warriors kept the inning alive, leading to a Tyler Andazola RBI single, a two-run Izaac Garsez double, and a Jarel Lewis RBI single. Todd Griffiths made it 8-2 in the fifth with an RBI single.
Nicholson held the Warriors at bay, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits, logging four strikeouts with no walks. Leading 9-5 in the eighth, L-C scored an unearned run with two outs on a Coyote error with the bases loaded, but Griffiths came in from the pen and got Bridges to ground out to end the threat. The right-hander worked around a walk in the ninth to record his second save.
Griffiths, Garsez, Andazola, and Jeffrey Harris all had two hits for the Yotes, with Garsez scoring three runs. Payne, Eric Peterson, and Aaron DeGuire each had two hits for L-C, with starter Carsen Nylund allowing seven runs (two earned) on eight hits in four innings of work.
The Coyotes return to action next weekend, hosting British Columbia in a four-game NAIA West series, beginning Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.