Coyotes Open Home Schedule With Sweep of Willamette
CALDWELL, Idaho – Frigid cold temperatures did not stop the College of Idaho from extending their season-opening win streak to eight games, riding a dominant pitching performance in Game 1 and a go-ahead 2-run homer in the nightcap for a doubleheader sweep of Willamette University at Symms Field.
Playing in temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, Colette Robert delivered a 3-hit shutout, striking out 10 batters, in a 6-0 victory in the opener, while Trystin Crofts blasted a long 2-run homer to break a tie in the sixth, as the Yotes (8-0) won 8-6 in the late game.
GAME 1 – Robert handcuffed the Division III Bearcats (0-2), holding WU to just three singles in the win. The visitors had their best scoring chances in the first and sixth innings – but Robert used timely strikeouts to strand runners scoring position – establishing a new career high for single-game strikeouts.
C of I took the lead in the second, as Haley Loffer was hit by a pitch and Lacie Miller followed with a long opposite-field home run to right. The Yotes would break the game open in the fifth, as Aleah Mendiola ripped a one-out triple into the right field corner and scored on a Crofts RBI single. The hosts would load the bases, setting up a two-out, two-run single from Bentli Corta to push the lead to 5-0, with a Miller RBI single capping the big frame.
Miller finished 2-for-3 with three RBI, with Mendiola adding a pair of hits.
GAME 2 – The Coyotes looked to be on cruise control, taking a 6-1 lead into the fifth inning, but needed the Crofts blast to complete the victory.
Marissa Maddox golfed a 2-run homer just over the left field wall in the first, followed by a Corta RBI single, giving C of I a 3-0 lead. WU got a run back in their second on a Kelsey Wong RBI single, but the Yotes struck again the bottom of the inning, as Crofts and Maddox ripped back-to-back RBI doubles.
WU got back in the game in the fifth and sixth innings, despite recording just two hits – capitalizing on four C of I errors, three hit by pitches, two walks and two wild pitches to score five runs. Kilani Fierstos provided the big hit, a two-run single in the sixth to tie the score at 6-6. The Bearcats had the go-ahead run at second base with no outs – but a failed sacrifice attempt and a double play got the Yotes out of the jam.
The hosts didn't wait long to regain the lead, as Mendiola led off the sixth with a walk and Crofts launched a 3-2 pitch deep over the left field wall for her fourth homer of the season.
Freshman Hannah McNerney worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to pick up her first save.
Crofts went 3-for-4 and Maddox was 2-for-4 – both with three RBI in the win. Micha Fortune added a pair of hits, with Loryn Fonger working out of the sixth inning jam to pick up the win. No WU player had more than one hit, with reliever Reanna Lancaster taking the loss – with the Crofts home run the only hit she allowed in three innings of work.
C of I returns to action tomorrow, hosting Menlo College in a noon doubleheader.