Cardinals swept again by Salt Lake
SOFTBALL
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Kylee Brinkerhoff's RBI single in the 10th inning of the second game Thursday lifted third-ranked Salt Lake Community College past North Idaho College 7-6 for a sweep of their four-game series to open Scenic West Athletic Conference softball play.
Ariel Zimmerman struck out 15 in the first game, a 5-0 victory by Salt Lake (12-4, 4-0).
NIC (5-8, 0-4) led 6-2 in the fourth inning of the nightcap before Star Hutchings connected on a three-run homer for the Bruins in the fourth inning. Savannah Webster drove in the tying run in the seventh.
Kristina DeAnda had four hits on the day for NIC. Blake Meredith and Shelby Gonzales each had three hits and two RBIs in the second game.
NIC plays a pair today against Southern Nevada in St. George.
FIRST GAME
North Idaho 000 000 0 - 0 4 2
Salt Lake 000 032 x - 5 7 0
Alyssa Erickson and Shelby Gonzales; Ariel Zimmerman and Wallace. W - Zimmerman (5-2). L - Erickson.
HITS: NIC - DeAnda 2, LaVaute, Tinoco. SLCC - Gomez, Bufton, Simonsen, Jachim, Brinkerhoff 2, Wallace. HR - Brinkerhoff.
SECOND GAME
North Idaho 202 200 000 0 - 6 13 3
Salt Lake 002 300 100 1 - 7 13 4
0 out when winning run scored.
Jocelynn Probert, Alyssa Erickson (7), Blake Meredith (8) and Shelby Gonzales; Roberts, Colvin (3), Zimmerman (7) and Wallace. W - Zimmerman. L - Meredith.
HITS: NIC - DeAnda 2, Meredith 3, Gonzalez 3, Tinoco 2, Goodwin, Wise 2. SLCC - Brinkrehoff 2, Jachim 3, Webster 2, White 2, Bufton, Hutchings, Wallace. 2B - Meredith 2, Tinoco, Wise, Jachim, Webster 2, White. HR - Hutchings.
BASKETBALL
Cardinals begin final SWAC stretch
With five games remaining on the Scenic West Athletic Conference schedule, the North Idaho College men's and women's basketball teams hit the road again starting tonight in Salt Lake City.
The 23rd-ranked NIC men (20-5, 5-5 SWAC) will face 20th-ranked Salt Lake (20-5, 6-4) tonight at 6:30 PST. NIC trails Salt Lake by one game for third place behind Southern Idaho (22-3, 8-2) and Eastern Utah (20-5, 7-3) in the SWAC standings.
The teams have split the season series thus far, with the Bruins winning 73-59 in Salt Lake on Dec. 11 and NIC winning 72-59 on Rolly Williams Court on Jan. 20. NIC travels to Snow (15-10, 4-6) in Ephraim, Utah, on Saturday.
UNLV transfer DeShawn Mitchell leads the SWAC in scoring for Snow with 23.3 points per game. NIC sophomore Michael Hale is second with 17.7. Hale is also second in steals with 2.1 per game.
The ninth-ranked NIC women (22-2, 8-2) and 15th-ranked Salt Lake (18-4, 8-2), who share the SWAC lead, have also split this season, with the Bruins winning 74-51 on Dec. 11 in Salt Lake and the Cardinals winning 70-64 at NIC on Jan. 20.
Sophomore Haley Holmstead of Salt Lake leads the conference in scoring with 25.1 per game, and Jami Mokofisi leads in rebounding with 10.3 per game.
NIC sophomore Kama Griffitts is fourth in scoring with 16.9 per game. Tugce Canitez is second in rebounding with 9.5 and steals with 2.6 per game.
NIC wraps up the weekend trip at Snow College (15-8, 5-5) on Saturday.