Coyotes Set Home Win Mark, Complete Sweep of Carroll
CALDWELL, Idaho – Dominant pitching helped the College of Idaho establish a new single-season record for home victories, as the Yotes blanked Carroll College in both ends of a Saturday doubleheader at Symms Field.
Colette Robert spun a 4-hit shutout in a 2-0 Game 1 win, while Hannah McNerney and Haylie Hudson combined on a 5-hit shutout as the Coyotes (32-8, 17-4 CCC) blanked the Saints, 3-0. With the victories, the Yotes improved to 21-5 on their own diamond – surpassing the 19 wins they tallied during the 2014 season.
C of I had opportunities throughout Game 1 – but Saints (14-21, 7-14) starter Tess Eaton stranded at least one Coyote in scoring position in the first five innings. However, the Yotes were able to piece together enough offense – as doubles from Kylie Smith and Marissa Maddox in the third got the hosts on the board and Delaney Atkins knocked home a fifth inning run with a sacrifice fly.
Robert did the rest – allowing just one runner in the game to reach third base – to pick up her team-leading 16th win, striking out four without a walk.
Smith was 3-for-4, with both Haley Loffer and Aleah Mendiola each recording two hits. Brooke Yarnell and Allison Williams had two hits apiece for Carroll.
All of the scoring in Game 2 occurred in the first inning, as Smith and Loffer walked, with Trystin Crofts delivering a run with an RBI single. Maddox and Atkins each followed with sacrifice flies to extend the lead to 3-0.
Pitching dominated the rest of the day – as McNerney worked out of jams in the middle innings to keep the shutout intact, while Saints starter Brooke Brown struck out seven – and did not allow a hit after the first inning. In the seventh, Carroll put the first two runners on against Hudson, but the senior coaxed a double play ball and a strikeout to earn her first collegiate save.
The Yotes hit the road next week, traveling to Klamath Falls, Ore., for a showdown with nationally-ranked Oregon Tech.