Cavs Split with C of I in Pitching-Heavy Doubleheader
BOX SCORES - GAME 1, GAME 2
PORTLAND, Ore.—The Concordia and College of Idaho softball teams split a doubleheader on Saturday, behind strong pitching from both dugouts.
CU starter Ashley Suter outdueled College of Idaho’s Nickayla Skinner 2-1 in the first game Saturday, but Skinner came back with a 4-1 win over the Cavs’ game two starter, Jordyn Brown.
All told, Skinner pitched all 13 innings for the Yotes on Saturday, throwing two complete games, while giving up only three runs on six hits. Skinner also struck out 13 total batters on Saturday, including 10 in only six innings of work in the first game.
After Saturday, Concordia moved to 19-17 overall and 10-6 in the CCC. The No. 21 College of Idaho Yotes, meanwhile, moved to 28-12 overall and 11-9 in the CCC. The split Saturday also gave both teams a split in the season series, which could prove crucial since Concordia currently sits tied for second in the CCC with Corban and one game up on the Yotes in fourth.
Concordia hosts Corban next in what will be a pivotal doubleheader for the CCC standings. The teams will play the doubleheader on Friday, April 20 at 2 p.m. On the flip side, the Yotes step out conference for their next games, as they host Northwest Nazarene for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 17 at 4 p.m. The Yotes will return to CCC action on Friday, April 20 when they host a doubleheader against Southern Oregon at 2 p.m.
GAME 1—CONCORDIA 2, COLLEGE OF IDAHO 1
Concordia got all the offense it needed in the first game Saturday with a well-time rally in the bottom of the sixth.
Before that, C of I had been leading 1-0 since the top of the second, with Skinner striking out nine of the first 17 CU batters she faced. It looked like Skinner would cruise again in the sixth too, as two quick outs put the Cavs’ in a hole early. However, Tobey Varney found the hole in the middle of the infield to give the Cavs just their second hit of the game, while Kyndell Andrews and Kate Santos drew back-to-back free passes after that to load the bases for Laura Luther. Now with all the pressure on her, Luther came through with a single to center that scored both Varney and Andrews.
The rally vaulted the Cavs’ ahead at 2-1, despite the fact College of Idaho was outhitting them 6-3 at that point in the game.
CU starter Ashley Suter helped put her team in position for the comeback, as she held off three different C of I rallies in the final three innings.
C of I had a good chance to score in the fifth, as Mikell Nye and Paige Gabiola gave the Yotes runners on second and third with two outs and the top of their order coming up. However, Suter got C of I leadoff hitter Nikki Shumway to ground out, ending the threat for the Yotes.
C of I would threaten again in the seventh, as Gabiola and Hannah Johnson reached to put runners on first and second with only one out and the top of the order coming up once again. Suter though, calmly struck out Shumway for the second out in the inning, then induced a ground ball that got Johnson out at second and clinched the win for the Cavs.
Overall, Suter went all seven innings for Concordia, striking out nine batters, while giving up one run on seven hits.
The College of Idaho opened the scoring in the second when Alexis Macias led off the inning with a single up the middle. Macias quickly moved to second on a sacrifice bunt after that, then moved to third on a ground out. Once there, a costly wild pitch allowed Macias to score, before Suter struck out Julia Henrie to end the inning.
Individually, Varney, Santos and Luther got the Cavaliers’ three hits in the game, while Santos finished 1-for-1 with two walks.
On the flip side, Gabiola was the only Yote player with two hits in the game, as she went 2-for-3.
GAME 2—COLLEGE OF IDAHO 4, CONCORDIA 1
The strong pitching continued in the second game as well, as both pitchers threw near-flawless games except for one bad inning each.
Unfortunately for CU starter Jordyn Brown, her one bad inning proved just a little bigger than Nickalya Skinner’s for C of I. Consequently, Brown received the loss, despite throwing one of her better games all season.
The Yotes’ rally came in the third when three of their first four batters singled to load the bases for Skinner with only one out in the inning. Now with the chance to give herself a cushion, Skinner delivered, sending a ball to deep right center that cleared the bases for the Yotes. Skinner also moved up to third on the play after Concordia’s throw home went wide of the plate, giving her time to advance. Skinner’s advance to third proved crucial too, as it allowed her to score on a ground out during the next at bat, which gave the Yotes their fourth run in the game.
In the end, all four of the Yotes’ hits came in the third, as the Yotes got only one other base runner in the game against Brown. That one base runner reached on a dropped third strike too, while Brown finished the game with five perfect innings to her credit.
Still, the one inning cost Concordia, as Skinner in turn held the Cavs at bay on offense. Like Brown, Skinner only faced one batter more than the minimum in six of the seven innings, and only gave up one hit outside of the Cavs’ rally in the fourth.
Tobey Varney, as she had seemingly all weekend, started the rally for the Cavs in the fourth, hitting a one-out single up the middle of the infield. Kyndell Andrews then followed with a single down the left-field line, while an errant throw from the C of I left fielder allowed Varney to score and Andrews to move to third on the play. Now with a runner on third and still only one out in the inning, Kate Santos and Laura Luther extended the rally with back-to-back walks to load the bases. Skinner, however, induced an infield pop up during the next at bat, then got a grounder to short to get out of the inning relatively unscathed.
Overall, the teams combined for just seven hits in the game, with C of I taking a slight edge at 4-3.
Individually, no player recorded two hits in the game, as Sam Genskay, Varney and Andrews got all three hits for Concordia, while Molly Mills, Skinner, Paige Gabiola and Hannah Johnson got the four hits for C of I.