CALDWELL, Idaho – Twice Tuesday Whitman College's baseball team was on the cusp of a non-conference victory over host College of Idaho but the NAIA's Coyotes stole both games by a single run, taking the opener 3-2 in seven innings before stealing the nightcap, 8-7, in the bottom of the 10th inning at Wolfe Field.

The pair of narrow losses drops the Missionaries' season record to 2-10 with the Yotes improving to 16-7 after their victories.

Braden Hussey and Anthony Lim had the hot bats on the day for Whitman. Hussey finished 4-for-7 with three RBI and one run scored while Lim was 4-for-8 and scored four times in Game 2.

A lead-off walk and one-out walk in the bottom of the first and second innings, respectively, pushed the Yotes to a quick 2-0 lead in Tuesday's opener. But Whitman rallied to knot things up in the top of the third.

Hussey reached on a lead-off single and moved to second on Jonny Chow's sacrifice bunt. Adrian Vela followed with an RBI-single to left to score Hussey then stole second to move into scoring position. After C-of-I starting pitcher Joel Martin picked up another out on a strikeout Paul Heywood lashed a double to left field that brought Vela home to tie the game.

A one-out double by Idaho's Zach Fabricus turned into trouble for the Missionaries in the bottom of the fourth. Fabricus stole third then raced home on an infield ground out to the right side, pushing the Yotes back ahead, 3-2.

Neither team did much at the plate after that as Whitman registered just three base runners over the remainder of the game while Idaho put only one player on base as the Coyotes shut the door in the bottom of the seventh with Kyle Garvin's 1-2-3 inning that included a pair of strikeouts.

Whitman broke in front quickly in Game 2 when Lim and Peter Carmichael scored on a two-out, two-RBI single to left by Tristan Cates. The lead was short-lived, however, as the Yotes picked up two runs in the bottom of the frame.

Lim continued to be a spark for Whitman, leading off the third with a single to left, and eventually came around to score the go-ahead run on and RBI-single to center from Hussey. The lead was extended to three in the top of the seventh when Lim got on again, with a one-out single to left, followed by a single to left from Heywood. Carmichael pushed Lim to third and took first base on a fielder's choice to the shortstop that eliminated Heywood but kept the inning alive. Hussey brought in both runners with a dramatic single to left field that moved Whitman in front, 5-2.

Idaho battled back to tie the score with three runs in the bottom of the inning then took its first lead of the game, 7-5, with two unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth.,The Missionaries battled back, though, in the top of the ninth.

A lead-off single by Lim followed by a double to left by Heywood put runners at second and third with no one out. An Idaho pitching change didn't help as the next batter, Carmichael, lashed a single to shallow center that brought Lim home and moved pinch-runner Jackson DeStefano to third. Hussey grounded into a double play next, but that still allowed DeStefano to come home for the tying run.

Idaho threatened in the bottom of the ninth but Robert Maislin, who had come in to start the eighth inning, struck out Nathan Hundley for the second out and induced an inning-ending ground out to end the threat leaving a pair of Yotes stranded on the base paths.

Unfortunately the bottom of the 10th wasn't as smooth. A lead-off walk, a hit batter and an infield single loaded the bases, and then Idaho's Johnny Hyland worked Heywood, in for relief of Maislin to start the 10th, for a walk that brought the game-winner in from third.

Whitman will try to turn the tide with its next outings, a three-game Northwest Conference set beginning Saturday at George Fox University before heading back to the College of Idaho for another twinbill on Tuesday.