Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University softball team dropped a pair of games on Friday to the no. 24 ranked College of Idaho, 9-5 and 5-2. After giving up 19 hits in the first game, NCU had a chance to take a split, only to give up four runs in the seventh inning of game two.
 
The Lady Yotes (24-12, 16-8 CCC) officially secured one of the four spots in the upcoming Cascade Conference Championships  while NCU (9-24, 8-14 CCC) moved closer to the brink of elimination from post-season contention.
 
GAME ONE
 
The College of Idaho equaled a school record with 19 hits and turned an improbable triple play in a 9-5 victory in the opener. NCU opened the scoring in Game 1, as Gabby Stover lined a two-out RBI single to give the Beacons a first inning lead.  C of I tied the score on a Briana Brace RBI single in the second, taking the lead in the third when Ashley Van Horne gapped her school-record fifth triple of the season and scored on an Alexis Macias single.
 
C of I busted the game open in the fourth, as Paige Gabiola doubled home a pair, with Brace and Macias adding RBI singles to extend the lead to 6-1.
 
Trailing 7-2 in the fifth, NCU loaded the bases with no outs, scoring a run on a Parker Bonife walk.  C of I got out of the jam in one swoop with the first recorded triple-play ever against the Beacons. Jill Suratt (pictured) hit a hard line drive up the middle, which was caught by an outstretched Kaci Baldwin. Baldwin stepped on second to double-up the runner and after a throw to first base was late, Macias threw home to gun down Randi Kostner trying to score from third to complete the triple play.
 
Baldwin capped the C of I attack with a two-run single in the sixth.
 
Suratt and Laynee Bevans each had three hits for the Beacons, Addy Hoskins had a pair of singles and Bonife hit her fifth homer of the season in the loss. After owning the Yotes in Calwell last month, freshman Janieve Boyles (2-1) suffered the loss for NCU this time around, allowing four earned runs on nine hits over the first 3 1/3 innings.
 
Macias, Van Horne, Katie Rowe, and Destiny Turner all had three hits for the winners, as Cortni Pena worked around 10 hits for her eighth victory in the circle.
 
GAME TWO
 
Game 2 was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Suratt doubled home Bonife to give NCU the lead.  Chelsea Hannon followed with a two-out RBI single to make it 2-0.
 
C of I got a run back in the fifth on a Beacons' error, but needed a big outburst in the seventh to record the win.  Hailey Chambers lined a one-out triple and scored on a passed ball to tie the score.  Paige Gabiola walked and scored on a NCU error after a Van Horne single.  Turner followed with a run-scoring single and Rowe doubled in a run to make it 5-2.
 
It was enough for Nickayla Skinner, who tossed three shutout innings of relief, to pick up her 16th win.  Van Horne and Turner each had two hits for the Yotes.
 
Hoskins had two more hits for the Beacons and Suratt logged two hits for NCU including a double, finishing off a 5-for-7 day at the plate. Suratt also threw a complete game for the Beacons, giving up just one earned run on eight hits in seven innings of work.
 
The Beacons continue their final homestand of the season on Saturday, playing host to Eastern Oregon University for a double-header beginning at 11:00 am. NCU will hold Senior Day festivities in between games.