Denim Millward
Sports Editor
After up-and-down performances in the Diamond Devil and New Mexico Invitationals, the Idaho State softball team appears to have righted the ship.
The Bengals have won eight of their last 10 games, all of those victories, except one, coming by three or more runs and three coming in five innings. The winning streak began at the tail end of the New Mexico Invitational.
After dropping two of their first three games in close contests to North Dakota State and host New Mexico, the Bengals thumped the University of Buffalo 16-7 in five innings.
After their second game against North Dakota State was canceled, the Bengals once again defeated Buffalo, this time by a score of 3-1, and ended the tournament in thrilling fashion, downing New Mexico 12-9 in 5.5 innings.
Led by a Vicky Galasso grand slam, the Bengals jumped out to an 11-1 lead, after which the Lobos exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Pinch-hitter Gabby Lopez smacked an RBI-triple to give ISU a 12-9 lead. The game was called at a predetermined time, which fell before the Lobos had a chance to bat.
Fresh off their hot finish at the New Mexico Invitational, the Bengals traveled to Riverside, Calif., to compete in the Highlander Classic that was held March 7-9.
The Bengals defeated the University of San Diego 5-2 and Utah State 9-4 the first day of the tournament and shut out California-Riverside 9-0 on March 8.
The Bengals lost a 3-2 nail-biter to San Diego on the final day of the tournament.
From there, Idaho State traveled to Boise to compete against Boise State and Lafayette College in the Spring Hill Suites Invitational, which ran from March 14 to 16. In their three contests against Lafayette College, the Bengals have dominated, only giving up a single run over the course of the three games and winning two in five innings.
The Bengals did falter against Boise State on March 15, losing a hard-fought contest by a final tally of 4-1.
The performance by the Bengals is especially impressive considering they have yet to play a single game at home and, in approximately 45 days, have competed in five different tournaments in five different states.
The Bengals are currently sitting at 15-9 and, though they have yet to face off against a Big Sky Conference opponent, appear poised to be very successful within their conference this season.
The team is led by junior Vicky Galasso who is hitting .403, has driven in 38 runs and belted 9 home runs already in this still-young season. She also leads the team by a fair margin with 19 walks.
Freshman phenom Kacie Burnett is off to a red-hot start, batting a scorching .512 and compiling a team-high 42 hits.
The three pitchers who have appeared in games for the Bengals thus far, Jessica Tolmie, Bailey Foster and Haley Douglas, all have put together positive win-loss records thus far.
Tolmie is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA and 21 strikeouts.
Foster has punched out 17 runners and is 4-2 with a 4.85 ERA.
While Douglas has the highest current ERA at 5.38, she also leads the team in wins (8) and strikeouts (24).
Up next for the Bengals is a doubleheader against Portland State in Portland on March 22, which will mark the opening of conference play.
After facing off against the Vikings, the Bengals will take a trip through the Beehive State March 25 to April 5, facing off against Utah Valley University, the University of Utah, Brigham Young and Weber State.
The Bengals will at last return to Pocatello on April 8 for a mammoth 12-game home stand that will end with the April 29 contest against Boise State.
The Bengals will travel to Grand Forks, N.D., May 2-3 to close out the regular season against North Dakota.
