After winning the first two games of the series at Park-Gilbert, the College of Idaho lost the third game 21-3. They actually led 3-2 after three innings, but managed only one hit the rest of the way. Buccanneers reliever Trey Langan allowed that hit, but pitched the fifth through eighth innings, struck out four. The Buccaneers took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, got five runs in the fifth, and turned it into a rout with eleven runs in the eighth.
Only seven of the Buccaneers’ runs were earned. Four of them were charged to Coyotes starter Ben Gaff, who got the loss. Darren Smith got two of the Coyotes’ hits. One of them was a double, and he scored a run.
Eastern Oregon swept a double-header at Simpson, 11-10 and 8-2. The first game was tied 6-6 after four innings. The Red Hawks got two runs in the bottom of the fifth, two more in the bottom of the sixth, and led 10-6. However, the Mountaineers came back to tie it with four runs in the top of the eighth; Joey Freitas hit a bases-loaded triple, and Benat Van Hoose added a sacrifice fly. Matthew Carlson hit an RBI single in the top of the ninth for the winning run, but the Red Hawks made the bottom of the ninth exciting. Callan Vreim got a fly out and a strikeout, and the Red Hawks were down to their last out. However, Vreim walked the next batter, then threw a wild pitch to send that batter to second. He proceeded to walk the next batter, putting the tying run in scoring position, and the winning run on first. So, Zakaia Michaels was brought in to get that final out. The batter, Logan Gomes, worked the count to 3-2, but he watched strike three go by to end the game.
Vreim, who entered the game in the seventh inning, got the win. He didn’t allow a hit, struck out four, and walked three. Michaels, of course, got a save. Freitas finished 2-for-4 with the triple and four RBI. Mario Landeros, who has hit well the entire series, went 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored.
In the second game, the Mountaineers got all the runs they needed in the third inning. Matthew Carlson got it started with a sacrifice fly. Joey Freitas hit an RBI double, then scored the winning run when Mario Landeros reached on an error. In the fifth inning, Easton Lasich drew a walk to walk in a run, and Freitas scored on a wild pitch. Chase Nett hit a two-RBI single the sixth inning, and Youhyeon Choi of Seoul, South Korea completed the scoring with an RBI double in the seventh.
Both of the Red Hawk runs (one of them unearned) came at the expense of starter Will Seslar, who went three innings, allowed four hits, and walked five. Tyler Rebson, a freshman playing his first-ever college game, went the rest of the way, got the win, allowed only three hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out six of the 14 batters he faced. Youhyeon Choi had the best offensive numbers; 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. recap
The Mountaineers won the series three games to one. Three days into this season, they have already won as many games as they did all last season. Choi finished 6-for-14 for the series.
