North Idaho Earns Split With Dixie College

College baseball

Back-to-back infield errors in the sixth inning Saturday led to three runs, and North Idaho College rallied for a 6-5 win and a split with visiting Dixie College in a Scenic West Athletic Conference doubleheader.

NIC (8-9, 2-4) opened the inning with consecutive singles by Andrew Reifers and Jeff Byrd. Dixie’s shortstop mishandled Sean Moglia’s two-out grounder, opening the door to a three-run inning.

Dixie won the opener 6-2, with two runs in the fifth and another two in the sixth.

The teams canceled a scheduled second doubleheader because of rain. NIC has won five of its last six games.

Pinch-runner Justin Williams scored from third base on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth, and visiting Washington State edged Cal State Northridge 3-2 in a non-conference game.

Williams pinch-ran for Ray Hattenburg, who led off the ninth with his third hit. A sacrifice bunt and error moved Williams to third, and reliever Merrill Dunn uncorked the wild pitch.

Hattenburg and Wes Falkenborg both homered for the Cougars. WSU starter Tyson Thompson and reliever Matt O’Brien (5-0) held the Matadors (9-15) to six hits.

The win pulled the Cougars to within three games of the .500 mark at 10-13. They are now 3-3 on their seven-game spring-break road trip. Northridge fell to 9-15 on the year and is in jeopardy of being swept for the second consecutive weekend (Nevada did it last weekend).

The Cougars managed only seven hits against Matador pitching, but the WSU pitching staff was just as effective, scattering just six CSUN hits.

Ryan Keller’s two-out, RBI single in the seventh lifted Puget Sound (5-8) to an 8-7 win over Whitworth in a Northwest Conference opener in Tacoma.

Whitworth scored twice in the top of the seventh, including an RBI double by Nick Schuerman.

Whitworth jumped to a 4-0 lead, but the Loggers scored four in their second. Rain forced a 45-minute delay in the fifth, stretching the game to 4 hours, 15 minutes.

Mike Bomar (1-3) pitched 7 innings of no-hit ball and struck out 12 to lead Washington (5-9) to a 3-2, non-conference win over visiting Dayton.

Gonzaga’s home game with Loyola Marymount was rained out. The teams will attempt to play a doubleheader today, beginning at 11 a.m.