CALDWELL, Idaho – Oregon Tech capitalized on four College of Idaho errors to claim a key Cascade Conference series victory with a 7-5 win at Symms Field.
 
Kacie Schmidt went the distance for her sixth win of the year, with Zoe Allen, Kaila Mick and Jayce Seavert all recording 2-hit games, as the No. 7-ranked Lady Owls (12-5, 5-1 CCC) earned wins in the final two league counters in the series.
 
C of I (15-2, 4-2) salvaged the final game of the weekend, pushing across a sixth inning run to win the non-conference contest, 2-1.
 
"It was another gutsy win today in Game 1," said OIT head coach Greg Stewart. "Kacie made some good pitches in key situations to hold off their rally."
 
Tech strung together four hits to open the day – as bunt singles from Allen and Seavert were sandwiched around a Mick single to left. Buckholz got OIT on the board with a 2-run single, with a third run scoring on a Coyote error.
 
A C of I error in the second extended the Lady Owls lead to 4-0, with the lead growing to 7-0 in the fourth – thanks to an error and run-scoring hits from Mick and Seavert.
 
The hosts took advantage of a 2-out OIT error in the fourth, with Hattie Hruza smashing a 3-run homer to get the Yotes on the board, while in the sixth, Kaily Christensen added a 2-run blast to make it 7-5. C of I brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Schmidt got a pop up and a ground out to end the game.
 
Schmidt held a dominant C of I offense to four hits, adding two strikeouts. Allen was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, Mick was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored, with Seavert going 2-for-2 with two hit-by-pitches.
 
Game 2 was a pitchers' duel between the Owls Mckenzie Staub and C of I's Katie Wilfert – as Staub held the Yotes to five hits in five-plus innings.
 
The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead in the second on a Chloe Florchinger RBI single, but Tech answered in their next at bat, as Staub and Nita Cook singled, with Mick tying the game with an RBI ground out. The score would remain 1-1 into the sixth, where C of I took advantage of a leadoff error by the Owls – with Florchinger delivering the go-ahead RBI single.
 
Staub finished the game 2-for-2 with the lone run scored for OIT.
 
"We started the day off hot offensively, but unfortunately, we did not put anything together for run support in Game 2 – despite a nice outing by Mckenzie," Stewart said. "I am proud of how these ladies battled through some tough playing conditions to get two good conference wins on the road."
 
OIT returns home next weekend, hosting Carroll College at Stilwell Stadium.