yotes clinch #1 seed with split at corban

The College of Idaho secured the top-seed and opening round bye in the 2012 NAIA West Grouping Tournament with a doubleheader split against Corban University, this afternoon at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer, Ore.

The No. 21 ranked Coyotes (36-14, 21-9 NAIA West) committed a season-high six errors in a 12-7 Game 1 loss, but rebounded for a 13-4 victory in the late game.

It marks the first time since the 2002 season that the Yotes that The C of I earned a tournament top seed – which also was the last time the team qualified for the NAIA World Series.

Zach Fabricius got the Yotes on the board in the third inning of Game 1, lining a solo homer to right, with Izaac Garsez adding an RBI single to make it 2-0.  The Warriors (26-21, 14-15) responded with one swing, as Steven Blum hit a two-out, grand slam homer in the bottom of the frame, giving Corban the lead for good.

A Garsez RBI double in the sixth got the Yotes within 4-3, but Corban batted around for six runs in the seventh – taking advantage of four C of I errors in the inning, to put the game away.  Back-to-back homers in the ninth – a three-run shot by Brett Ward and a solo homer by Tyler Andazola made the score look respectable.

Justin White went five-plus innings for the win, striking out three, with Colby Sokol going 4-for-5 and Blum driving in five in the win.  Garsez went 3-for-5, with Andazola and Fabricius each recording two hits for the Coyotes.

The Yotes plated two in the first inning of the nightcap, as Tanner Hodges singled in a run – scoring during an inning ending run-down.   Corban tied the game with single runs in each of the first two innings, as Sokol doubled in a run in the first, with a balk scoring a run in the second.

In the sixth, the Coyotes took advantage of a pair of Corban errors, with Jesse Dodd providing the big blow with a three-run homer.  Ward added an RBI single to push the lead to 6-2.  The C of I would extend the lead to 10-3 in the seventh on a Hodges RBI double, a Jeffrey Harris RBI single, and a two-run Ward single – cruising to the win.

Taylor Nicholson gutted through seven innings, allowing three runs, while striking out six.  Garsez went 5-for-6 with three runs scored, Hodges went 3-for-5 with four RBI, with Ward going 2-for-4 with three RBI in the win – part of a 19-hit attack.  Peter Martin went 2-for-4 for the Warriors.

The regular-season concludes tomorrow morning with a doubleheader, beginning at 11 a.m.