POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State Bengals, battling the elements, wrapped up a 2-1 series win over the Weber State Wildcats at Miller Ranch Stadium, Sunday afternoon.
The Bengals improve to 25-24 , 7-5 BSC on the season and clinch the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky Tournament while the Wildcats fall to 20-25 and will have the No. 5 seed in the postseason tournament.
Coach Rich's Remarks
Head Coach Andrew Rich remarked on the Bengals series with the Wildcats and the upcoming Big Sky tournament in Pocatello
Game 2 | ISU 7 – Weber State 6
· The Bengals battled through the longest postponement of their season, leading to an amazing comeback for the Bengals against the Wildcats.
· With WSU up 6-2 in the fifth, the Bengals kicked off the comeback with offensive production from two of ISU's veterans.
· Camryn Mcdonald reached in the fifth and was followed to the plate by Olivia Robison who smashed a home run to cut the Weber lead to 6-4.
· With the Wildcats on their heels, Angelica Cano then followed it up with another homerun over the right-center wall.
· The two teams battled back and forth and ISU went into the 7th down a run. After an initial flyout, Kennedy Dudley drew a walk and the tying run was on first. After another Bengal out, ISU was down to it's last strike.
· With the team on the ropes, the Bengals sent in Freshman Belle Navarrett to pinch hit. Stepping up to the occasion Navarrett doubled in the right-center gap and Dudley scored from first tying the game at 6-6.
· The two teams played another inning, but were unable to complete the game due to a lack of light and incoming rain storms.
· The next day, due to the rain, the field remained unplayable and was once again postponed to the the next day.
· Finally, playing on Sunday, the game was able to resume in the top of the 9th.
· After a leadoff single, Riley Wickum forced a groundout followed by two straight strikeouts to end the top of the 9th.
· Onto the 10th, with two WSU runners on, the Bengal defense once again stepped up with Wickum, on fire, striking out the final two outs of the half inning.
· The Bengals entered the top of the 10th ready to close out the game. Gracie Smith started it off drawing a walk and then promptly stealing 2nd.
· Robison then also drew a walk and Cano singled to load the bases with one Bengal out. After an Ava Brown flyout, The Bengals were once again down to two outs with a chance to close out the game.
· Kennedy Dudley then stepped up to the plate, standing firm in the box, Dudley took a pitch off the elbow and ran to first, finish out the Walk-off win with a hit by pitch. The Bengals ended the game with the 7-6 win and ended any regular-season championship hopes for the Wildcats.
· This is the first 10 inning win for the Bengals since the 2016 season.
Game 3 | ISU 8 – WSU 0
· Needing to win the third game to earn a Bye in the tournament, the Bengals started off game three with Emma McMurray leading a back and forth battle from the mound.
· McMurray set the tone early, striking out the 2nd batter of the top of the first, going three up three down.
· The Bengal defense continued to step up and only faced 7 batters over the next two innings.
· In the bottom of the third, the Bengal offense shot off. The inning began with Gracie Smith drawing a walk, McDonald then singled up the middle and the Orange and Black had two on.
· After Robison drew another walk, the Bengals had bases loaded with no outs.
· The Wildcats switched pitchers but it didn't faze the Bengals. Angelica Cano singled up the middle scoring two runs. Ava Brown followed it up with a double to right center and the Bengals led the game 3-0.
· Dudley got her first extra-base hit of the game, scoring Cano and the Bengals led 4-0.
· Again, the two teams battled back and forth in the fourth with McMurray dealing in the circle and forcing the Wildcats three up three down.
· McMurray and the defense continued battling in the top of the 5th. After two straight singles by the Wildcats, the Bengals reset and forced two fly outs to end the inning.
· Up 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth, The Bengals got two on quickly with a WSU error and an Alyssa Yee single. Skyler Sethman then followed it up with a single up the middle and the Bengals led 5-0.
· Bengal senior Jillian Martinez entered the game and was plunked by the Weber pitcher to load the bases for the Bengals. Smith drew yet another walk and the Bengals led 6-0.
· Camryn McDonald continued the offensive assault, singling throught the right side scoring another run for ISU and the Bengals led 7-0.
· Needing one more run to end the game, Olivia Robison stepped up and smashed up sixth hit of the series straight up the middle, walking off the Wildcats for the 8-0 five inning mercy rule win.
Series Notes
· Robison led the Bengals offensively with six hits on nine at bats, hitting .667 with three runs scored, three RBIS and a homerun. She reached base .800 of the series and had 11 putouts at catcher during the series.
· Emma McMurray picked up her 2nd win of the year with a five-inning shutout where she held the wildcats to .167
· The Bengals drew 22 walks in the series vs Weber, while the Bengal pitchers only threw four in the three games played.
· The two teams tied in doubles and homeruns with five doubles and four homeruns each.
Big Sky Tournament – Pocatello, Idaho – May 8-11, 2024
The Big Sky Softball regular season has come to an end as Northern Colorado clinched the regular season crown with an 9-5 record. The regular season title is the first in program history for the Bears.
For full 2024 Big Sky Softball Championships bracket, click here.
The Idaho State Bengals clinched the No. 2 seed with their 2-1 series win over Weber State and will face the winner of Montana and Sacramento State, Wednesday May 8th at 4:30 PM MT.
On Deck
The Bengals are back home next week for a pair of non-conference matchups. First the Bengals welcome the BYU Cougars to Miller Ranch on Tuesday, April 30th at 4:00 PM . The Bengals then face the UVU Wolverines, Wednesday at 4:00 PM to close out the regular season.