Idaho State softball dropped a heartbreaker 7-6 loss to Abilene Christian University on the final day of the 2022 UTEP Invitational.
“We did a lot of good things this weekend and we need to remember the positives,” said Bengal Head Coach Andrew Rich. “At the same time, we have to learn how to finish games and correct the mistakes we made. The energy and effort from our team this weekend was great and we'll keep building and get back at it next week.”
The ACU Wildcats struck first, scoring a run in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead. The Bengals responded with a two-run RBI by Mailee Newman to take a 2-1 lead.
The next inning, Bengal newcomer Isabella Hanson came up to bat and hammered the second home run of her Bengal career over the center field wall giving the Bengals a 3-1 lead over the Wildcats.
Both teams remained scoreless in the 5th with Haley Rainey battling in the circle for the Orange and Black.
ISU added two more runs thanks to RBIs from Angelica Cano and Frankie tago and headed into the final half of the 7th with a 6-2 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh the Wildcats put together a monumental run and scored five runs to walk off the game.
Four Bengals had two hits in the game and Rheanne Lewis and Tago led the team with two RBIs each.
Rainey pitched 6.1 innings and allowed five runs on nine ACU hits. Rainey had 10 strikeouts.
Mareena Ramirez in as relief allowed two runs and two hits.
Tournament Recap
Four Bengals hit over .400 over the five games in El Paso. Lewis led the team with a .588 BA with nine runs scored on 10 hits with a double and a triple. Her final SLG% was .765 and she finished the weekend with a .632 on base percentage.
Hanson had two homeruns this week. Cano and Piper Tago also had a home run each.
The Bengal pitching staff finished the weekend with a 5.87 average ERA. Emma McMurray picked up the first shutout of her career, an 11-0 win over ACU.
Looking Ahead
The Bengals are back on the road next week as they head to St. George, Utah for a single game with Dixie State on Feb. 17. Then the Orange and Black make their way to Phoenix to play in the Grand Canyon University Purple Classic. Follow along at ISUBengals.com to keep up with the team and don’t forget to follow us on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
