Lady Yotes Sweep Northwest, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive
CALDWELL, Idaho - Nickayla Skinner tossed a one-hit shutout in the opener and Kayla Webb had three hits and three RBI on the afternoon, helping The College of Idaho keep their playoff hopes alive with a doubleheader sweep of Northwest University at Symms Field.
The Lady Yotes (29-21, 15-11 CCC) topped the first-year program, 5-0 and 6-2, remaining one-game ahead of Southern Oregon for the final berth in the Cascade Conference Tournament.
Skinner allowed just one single in the complete game victory in the opener, striking out a season-high 13 in the win - establishing a new C of I career strikeout record. It was her 18th win of the season and her eighth shutout victory.
The Coyotes used the long ball in the second inning to take the lead, as Alexis Macias led off the second with a line drive home run, Later in the inning, Webb hit a two-run shot, her first collegiate homer, to make it 3-0. An inning later, McKensie Stanton delivered a run with a bases-loaded infield single, while in the sixth, Molly Mills lined an RBI single to cap the scoring.
Game 2 saw the Lady Yotes plate four runs in the first to take the lead for good. Mills led off the first with a long home run to left, with the Yotes scoring runs on an error, a wild pitch, and a Webb RBI triple.
Mills roped an RBI single in the fourth to make it 5-0, with a Paige Gabiola RBI single puhsing the margin to 6-0. The Eagles (7-29, 4-18) had chances - leaving runners in scoring position in the second, fourth, and fifth, finally breaking through on a two-run Sandra Cleveland single in the sixth - but Cortni Pena worked out of trouble to pick up her 11th win.
Mills, Webb, and Skinner each had two hits in the victory for the Yotes, while Lauren Robinson had two hits for NU.
The C of I hosts Concordia tomorrow in the regular-season finale at 11 a.m.