Emotions ran high in Sunday's NAIA-West doubleheader between the Corban University baseball team and the College of Idaho Yotes. (Photo Credit: Chad Marsh)
KEIZER, Ore. – Emotions ran high in Sunday's NAIA-West doubleheader between the Corban University baseball team and the College of Idaho Yotes. When all was said and done, the Yotes walked away with a big series win, sweeping the latter half of the four-game set by final scores of 10-6 and 5-2.
Game one was a slugfest between the two squads, with offense coming early and often as the two teams combined for 16 runs and 27 hits. The Yotes would come out on the positive end of the hitting barrage, scoring in six of the nine innings.
Corban's pitching staff struggled to retire the leadoff man throughout the game, allowing a no-out baserunner in all but two of the nine frames. College of Idaho would take advantage, as every member of the squad's starting lineup would register a hit in the victory.
Backstop Jake Bowman led the offensive assault for Yote head coach Shawn Humberger, going 4-for-5 at the dish and driving in two runs.
The intensity reached a climax in game four, as a number of high-emotion moments occurred in the fierce series finale.
The matchup featured a little bit of everything—a collision at home plate, a brief vacating of both dugouts, and a couple of hotly-contested rulings in the field. But in the end, it was College of Idaho starter Tyler Hilton who stole the show, going eight innings and allowing just two runs in a dazzling effort on the mound.
Warrior starter Zackary Simon ended with the tough-luck loss, throwing six innings and surrendering five runs—only two of which were earned—in the defeat. Nate Cantonwine (2-for-4, two RBIs) was responsible for both of the Navy and Gold's runs in game four, driving them in on two separate RBI doubles.
Nathan Pena took the baton from Hilton to earn the game-two save for C of I, his second of the day and third of the weekend. The victory propels the Yotes ahead of the Warriors in the NAIA West standings by a game, as both squads will now turn their focus to one final conference series before the midway mark in the 2019 NAIA-West season.
The Warriors (8-16-1, 6-6 NAIA West) will return to the field in a couple of days, this time for a non-conference battle with Pacific University (NCAA Division III) in Forest Grove, Ore. First pitch for the single game is slated for 5 p.m. on Tuesday.