LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University baseball battled hard in its first home Cascade Collegiate Conference series of the season but was overwhelmed late in both contests by College of Idaho, falling 15-3 and 17-3 Sunday afternoon. After competitive early innings in each game, the Yotes used big middle-to-late inning surges to pull away.
Game 1
Eastern showed early fight despite the Yotes striking first in the top of the third inning. The Mounties answered immediately in the bottom half when
Lucas Smith launched a solo home run to even the score.
College of Idaho regained the lead in the fifth with a two-run homer, but Eastern refused to go quietly. In the sixth inning,
Jace Nagler reached on a single up the middle and later came around to score on a balk, cutting into the deficit. Moments later,
Greyson McDaniel delivered the big swing of the inning, blasting a two-run home run to tie the game once again and swing momentum back toward the Mounties.
The turning point came in the seventh, when the Yotes broke the game open with six runs on just two hits, capitalizing on four free bases. College of Idaho added six more runs in the eighth to extend its advantage, while the Mountaineers were unable to generate another rally down the stretch.
Game 2
The second game followed a similar script. The Yotes opened the scoring in the third inning, stringing together quality at-bats to push a run across. Eastern responded in the bottom half, as Nagler came through again with an RBI single that brought home Smith to tie the game.
The Mounties grabbed the lead in the fourth inning when
David Soto roped a double to score McDaniel, putting EOU in front. However, the advantage was short-lived. College of Idaho surged in the fifth inning, collecting seven hits and plating five runs to retake control of the contest.
Eastern struggled to regain its offensive rhythm as the game progressed. The Mounties managed one more run in the eighth inning, but it wasn't enough to counter the Yotes' continued offensive pressure, as College of Idaho pulled away for the 17-3 win.
Eastern Oregon will continue the four-game series tomorrow in La Grande, with first pitch scheduled for 11 a.m.
