Nic Exits Baseball Tournament
College baseball/softball
North Idaho College made a quick exit from the Region 18 baseball tournament, blowing a three-run lead and falling 6-3 to Treasure Valley on Friday in St. George, Utah.
The fourth-seeded Cardinals went 0-2 at the tourney to end the season 30-21.
Andrew Larson helped NIC to a 2-0 lead with an RBI single in the second and a run-scoring double in the fourth. NIC led 3-0 after Keith Osso singled in Joe Bisant in the fifth.
By the seventh, though, sixth-seeded Treasure Valley had pulled even. The Chukars took the lead in the eighth on Levi Meseberg’s solo home run and added two more runs with the help of an NIC error.
The Cardinals brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but Rob Sumner grounded out.
NIC committed three errors, leading to four unearned runs.
Top-seeded Dixie moved within one win of the title by crushing No. 3 Salt Lake 14-1 Friday night. In other games, Utah Valley eliminated College of Southern Idaho 4-1, but the Wolverines were later bounced by Treasure Valley, 4-3.
Treasure Valley and Salt Lake meet today for the right to face Dixie in the championship.
Senior center fielder Jordan Nilsen hit a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Washington State an 8-7 win over Cal State Northridge in a non-conference game at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman.
The win ended an eight-game losing streak for the Cougars (17-33) and brought a 12-game skid at Bailey-Brayton Field to a halt.
Redshirt freshman Stefan Bailie hit a two-run home run in the third and Jason Grove did the same in the fifth as the Cougars built a 6-0 lead after five innings.
Sophomore starter right-hander Tyson Thompson did not allow a runner past second base until the sixth inning.
The Matadors (21-32) whittled away at the lead and passed the Cougars in the top of the 10th inning with a home run by Bobby Koba for a 7-6 lead. But Jordan ended it all in the bottom half of the inning with his tworun blast.
Matt O’Brien got the win in relief to improve to 8-4 on the year. Ryan McDermott took the loss to fall to 1-4.
Jason Grove went 2 for 3 at the plate to extend his current hitting streak to 11 games and raised his batting average to .322.
The Cougars and Matadors will continue their three-game, non-conference series today at 1 p.m. at Bailey-Brayton Field. Left-handed senior Todd Meldahl will be making his 50th career start on the mound against southpaw Andy Davidson.
The Community Colleges of Spokane piled up five errors, left the bases loaded twice and stranded 12 baserunners in a 4-3 10-inning NWAACC loss at Blue Mountain Community College.
A sacrifice fly sent Bryan Dille home for the winning run in the 10th. Dille reached first with a single, took second on a sacrifice bunt and reached third on an error by second baseman Keith Thompson of the Sasquatch (18-8).
The two teams play a doubleheader beginning at noon today at Blue Mountain.
Derek Birley blasted four home runs and drove in 10 runs as George Fox outslugged Whitworth 13-9 in the second game of a Northwest Conference doubleheader in Newberg, Ore.
Ryan Alvis of the Bruins (30-8, 17-6) tossed a two-hitter in the opener for the 5-1 win over the Pirates (13-26, 8-15).
The win clinched a tie for the conference title. George Fox has won eight straight and can claim the title outright today at noon in Newberg when the two teams hook up for the regular-season final.
Softball
Katelyn Tatum’s bat and Cheryl Andrizzi’s arm kept North Idaho College’s softball season alive.
Tatum ripped a three-run home run to support Andrizzi’s four-hit pitching as the Cardinals downed Ricks 4-0 at the Region 18 tournament in Salt Lake City.
Earlier Friday, the third-seeded Cardinals fell to No. 2 Utah Valley 4-2.
NIC (25-17) faces a loser-out rematch with Utah Valley (38-14) this morning. Utah Valley lost to No. 1 Salt Lake 5-4 in eight innings. The NIC-Utah Valley winner would have to defeat Salt Lake (37-14) twice to claim the championship.
NIC led 1-0 before Tatum’s home run in the sixth inning gave the Cardinals breathing room. Andrizzi allowed two walks and struck out three.
In the Utah Valley game, NIC used an RBI single by Tatum to build a 2-0 lead after three innings.
Pinch-hitter April Mecham belted a two-run home run off of Kelli Smith to score the deciding runs in the sixth.