CALDWELL, Idaho - A dominating day by Taylor Schmidt put The College of Idaho playoff hopes on life-support, as No. 7 ranked Oregon Tech swept a doubleheader from the Lady Yotes, winning 2-0 and 10-1, at Symms Field.
OIT (34-7, 17-4 CCC) secured at least a share of the Cascade Conference regular-season title, while the Lady Yotes will need Concordia to lose five of their final six games and Southern Oregon lose 2-of-3 to advance to the playoffs.
Game 1 saw Tech squander opportunities in the second and third innings – as C of I (29-15, 12-12) starter Nickayla Skinner fanned Melissa Logan and Amber Knight with runners and second and third to get out of the second, then worked out of a second-and-third, no out jam in the third.
The Owls broke through in the sixth, loading the bases with one out – with Janelle Cromie and Logan following with RBI singles. Schmidt did the rest in the circle, getting Kristen Haugen to line-out with the bases loaded to end the sixth, then stranding the bases loaded in the seventh to pick up the win.
Schmidt allowed just four hits for the victory, with Jess Plummer and Logan recording two hits apiece. Skinner struck out 10 in the loss – her 11th game with 10-or-more strikeouts.
The visitors jumped out to an 8-0 lead in Game 2 and were never threatened, as Schmidt lined a two-run double in the first, as Tech plated three in the frame. Cromie doubled in a run in the third to make it 4-0, with Schmidt doubling home another run in a four-run fourth inning. The Yotes averted a mercy-rule loss, as Skinner and Haugen each doubled in the fourth. OIT capped the scoring in the seventh on a two-run Plummer single.
Schmidt went the distance for her 21st win of the season in Game 2, scattering five hits with three strikeouts, while going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Plummer went 2-for-5 with three RBI – part of a 12-hit attack.
Skinner went 2-for-3 in the loss, with Molly Mills recording a hit – extending her school record to 56 safeties this season.
Today’s twinbill marked the final home game for four C of I seniors – Haugen, Nikki Shumway, Jordan Huttash, and Kayla Park.