Tanner Hodges after a two-run homer in Yotes 5-4 win over UBC
CALDWELL, Idaho - Izaac Garsez went 3-for-4 including his third home run of the season and Tanner Hodges added four RBI as The College of Idaho hung on for a 5-4 victory over No. 20 British Columbia in Game 1 of a four-game NAIA West Grouping series at Wolfe Field.
The Coyotes (20-8, 6-3 NAIA West) broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh when Garsez hit a solo shot to right-center field, then hung on with two innings of shutout relief by Michael Garza— who recorded the win to improve to 3-0 on the season, and a scoreless ninth by Todd Griffiths as he picked up his third save.
The C of I jumped ahead 1-0 off a sacrifice fly by Hodges to score Garsez in the first inning, but that was short-lived as the Thunderbirds (17-7, 10-3) took the lead 2-1 on a two-run single through the right side by Sebastian Wong.
After UBC starting pitcher Travis Bruce shut down the Yotes with two strikeouts in the second and Andrew Firth placed down a well-executed sac bunt, Matt Spillman scored on an RBI groundout by Nick Senior to extend the Thunderbirds’ lead to 3-1 in the top of the third inning.
Hodges, however, evened the game at 3-3 as he cracked his first home run of the season over the right field wall.
Both teams traded runs in the middle innings with Hodges scoring Griffiths with his second sacrifice fly of the day, and UBC hitter Blake Carruthers hitting a towering lead-off solo home run in left-center in the top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Garsez capitalized on a high fastball that he took over the right-center fence for a solo shot to give the Coyotes the go-ahead 5-4 lead. Garza and Griffiths then combined for three innings of hitless relief ball against the Thunderbirds highlighted by a diving stop and throw-out from the knees in the eighth inning by Hodges.
Starting pitchers Chad Yeggy and Bruce each gave up four runs on seven hits as they gutted through six innings in a no-decision on both sides. Griffiths and Jarel Lewis each had two hits in the win for the Yotes. Carruthers went 2-for-3 for UBC, who had seven hits on the day and committed no errors in the field. The loss went to left-handed relief pitcher Matt Trimble (1-2) as he gave up the game-winning run on two hits in two innings pitched.
The two teams meet in a doubleheader tomorrow afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m..