CALDWELL — It’s been a while for Donnae Carrell, but the Coyote sophomore didn’t seem to miss a beat.

The former Middleton High star pitcher, who led the Vikings to a pair of 3A state softball titles, took to the circle for her first collegiate start and stymied Great Falls as The College of Idaho swept the Argonauts 4-0 and 7-2.

“I was actually not nervous,” said Carrell, who missed last season due to back problems and had only pitched 7 1-3 innings in relief this season.

“This is a good game to come in on; nonconference, not so much pressure,” she added.

But still a challenge against an Argos squad that got an Erica McAlmond RBI single in the first.

Carrell’s helped herself, walking and scoring on a passed ball to tie the score, and her teammates helped, too, as Katy Luetke tripled and scored on a Stephanie Stover single in the third.

Great Falls (11-14 overall) rallied thanks to a fielding error in the fifth to tie the game, but Carrell (2-0) never faltered as she scattered seven hits, struck out one and didn’t give up a hard shot all game.

“My dropball worked really well, which is a plus ’cause it’s down, and my changeup, if you can get a fast ball, which is my drop, and then a changeup, it’s good,” she said.

“This is a good opportunity to see where she’s at,” Coyote coach Al Mendiola said of Carrell, who he planned to use for relief only this season, but is now considering as a starter down the stretch.

“What I like about her is she can change speeds and she can move the ball,” he added.

Of course, there was plenty for the Yotes (17-16 overall, 6-10 conference) to like as they grabbed their first twinbill sweep since March 22, and provided some timely hitting.

That came in the bottom of the sixth for Carrell with the game tied 2-2.

With two outs, Katie Zillner singled, then a hit batter and a walk loaded the bases for pinch-hitter Daniyelle Villyard.

Villyard reached on an infield single before Kalie Kurdy walked, then Luetke and pinch-hitter Caylin LePire added singles, capping a 5-run rally.

“It wasn’t necessarily the two-out rally, I was impressed with more the string of hits we put together today,” Mendiola said.

“We never really put three, four hits in one inning to score those three or four runs and today we did it and it felt pretty good.”

All that after a dominating, 15-strikeout performance in the circle by Zillner (10-7) in the opener.

And the Yotes managed another nice rally for in the first as Carrell walked and Zillner singled, then a two-run single from Haley Butcher and a Kalie Kurdy RBI base knock made it 3-0 quickly.

Kelsi Murdock added an RBI groundout in the second, more than enough for Zillner, who said playing a nonconference foe might have been just what the Yotes — who had lost 11-of-13 headed into the doubleheader — needed to snap out of their funk.

“I think just being relaxed, ... everybody was just out there to do their thing,” she said.