Roberts homer lifts North Idaho College past Utah State-Eastern, 3-1

Aspen Roberts gave North Idaho College exactly the swing it needed in Worley, turning a tense conference weekend into a much-needed reset for the Cardinals.

The freshman outfielder from Riverton, Utah, launched a go-ahead two-run home run in the second inning Friday at the Marimn Health Coeur Center, lifting NIC past Utah State-Eastern 3-1 in the second game of a Scenic West Athletic Conference doubleheader. The win came after the Cardinals had lost 10 of their previous 11 conference games, a slide that had left little margin in the final stretch of the season.

NIC split the twin bill with Utah State-Eastern, but the second-game victory carried far more weight than the first-game loss. The Cardinals were beaten 15-1 in five innings under the 10-run rule in the opener, then answered with a sharper performance in the nightcap to protect their place in the SWAC race. With only the top four teams advancing to the Region 18 Tournament, the result helped NIC stay inside the postseason line rather than slip into a far more difficult position.

The Cardinals’ edge widened in the fifth inning when freshman Elizabeth Hatch singled to drive in sophomore Alli Drake for a 3-1 lead. In the circle, Lilly McNett kept Utah State-Eastern from mounting a comeback, striking out six to finish the win. For a roster that has spent much of conference play searching for consistency, the combination of Roberts’ power and McNett’s steady pitching offered a clear formula to build on.

The stakes around the victory were easy to measure. Around this point in the season, NIC’s official athletics site listed the Cardinals at 14-29 overall and 6-14 in conference play, with the team sitting fourth in the five-team league behind College of Southern Idaho, Salt Lake Community College and Snow College. Utah State-Eastern trailed NIC in the standings, so the split allowed the Cardinals to keep pace in a crowded postseason chase.

The timing matters, too. The Region 18 Tournament was scheduled to begin May 12 at the site of the conference champion, and NIC still had a difficult closing stretch ahead with doubleheaders at 19th-ranked Salt Lake and then a season-ending series at 23rd-ranked College of Southern Idaho on May 8-9. Roberts and Hatch had already shown earlier this season, in a March 21 sweep in Helper, Utah, that they can change a game against the Eagles. On Friday, Roberts did it again, and the Cardinals bought themselves another week with something real still on the line.