LEWISTON, Idaho – Falling behind 5-4 in the fourth, Concordia used a four-run seventh inning and held on in the ninth inning to defeat College of Idaho 12-10 in baseball action at the Red Lion Tournament in Lewiston on Friday.

 

Concordia (1-1) will play Corban University in afternoon action on Friday and will close out the tournament against C of I on Sunday. Corban is set to play the host Warriors of LC State prior to the matchup against the Cavaliers.

 

With the score 12-9 in the bottom of the ninth and facing his first batter, CU reliever Jared Young allowed an RBI single to right field which put runners at the corners for the Yotes. With the winning run now at the plate, Young quickly collected the save after forcing C of I’s Jordan Lanman to pop up to center field to hold on to the 12-10 win.

 

CU took early leads of 2-0 and 4-1, before the Coyotes (0-1) would fight back to take the 5-4 lead in the fourth. The Cavs would capitalize on a costly two-out error in the seventh, getting a Riley Tubbs two-run triple and a Sean Myrom homer to retake the lead at 8-5.

 

The Yotes would draw even in the bottom of the frame, as Gavin Gamboa and Kyle Davis tallied RBI hits before with Jarel Lewis scored the equalizer on a wild pitch. The tie would be short-lived as CU would score three times with two outs in the eighth, as a Curt Cosby two-run double was the big blow for the Cavs.

 

After the Cavaliers added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, the Yotes made it interesting in their final at bat. Lewis walked with two out and moved to third on a Kyle Davis single while Todd Griffiths followed with an RBI single to make it 12-9. A pinch-hit RBI single from Jesse Dodd got the Yotes within two before the fly out to center ended the contest.

 

C of I outhit the Cavs 16-13 but were doomed by three errors compared to just a single miscue for Concordia. Myrom paced the CU offense with a 3 for 5 performances at the plate. Cosby, Tubbs and Myrom each had two RBI.

Both starters went deep into the game with CU’s Larsen Kohler lasting six innings. Kohler struck out three while allowing five runs on nine hits. C of I starter Levi Mitchum lasted seven full frames and allowed eight runs, only three of which were earned, on seven hits. Mitchum struck out six and walked two.    

 

Concordia’s Shayne Nakata received the win after recording all but the final out of the final three innings. Nakata struck out two and allowed three hits in 2.2 innings of work.