Denim Millward
Sports Editor
Having won a sizzling 12 of its last 15 contests and averaging over 10 runs a game in their last four games, the Idaho State University softball team doesn’t exactly appear to need any boosts or additional help.
Unfortunately for soon-to-be Bengal opponents, they’ll be getting just that come Friday.
After a grueling beginning of the season comprised of five tournaments that had the Bengals playing everywhere from Sin City to the Big Easy, followed by opening Big Sky Conference play with seven away games, the Bengals will at last return to the friendly confines of Miller Ranch Stadium in Pocatello to play in front of hometown fans April 3, where they will take on conference foe Weber State for a two-game series April 3 and April 4.
The Bengals are coming off an impressive sweep over the home-team Southern Utah Thunderbirds in a three-game set that took place March 27 and 28.
As is often the case, senior catcher Vicky Galasso and her hot-and-hard hitting were the story of the series.
In her four games that week, three against Southern Utah and the other a dominating win over Utah State, Galasso finished 8-11, six of which were extra-base hits, with four walks and 10 runs batted in.
Galasso finished the week with an almost absurd .800 on-base percentage.
Though many a borderline-hyperbolic statement or overly-descriptive soliloquy could have been used to describe Galasso’s scintillating performance at the plate that week, head softball coach Julie Wright succinctly, yet perfectly, summed it up.
“She is ridiculously good,” Head Coach Julie Wright said to ISU Sports Information. “That has been what I have seen out of her this week. Sometimes they are pitching around her and she is being patient and taking the walk. When she gets a pitch she can handle she handles it. That is really her approach right now.”
The Bengals came out on fire in the first game of the three-game series against the Thunderbirds in Cedar City, the first game in a double-header March 27.
In their first contest against Southern Utah since the Thunderbirds defeated the Bengals for the Big Sky Championship last season, the Bengals totaled nine runs on seven hits to down the T-Birds 9-1 in game one.
While the hitting of Galasso and her teammates powered the Bengals through to the dominant margin of victory, the sparkling pitching performance of junior pitcher Sophie Slagle made sure Southern Utah never had a chance.
Slagle (8-6) struck out six in five innings of work without giving up a single earned run.
“She got ahead more than she has been lately,” Wright said of Slagle’s gem to ISU Sports Information. “She looked to me like she was poised and attacking hitters. Even when she got herself into trouble, she wriggled out of it. She didn’t try to overdo things.”
Game two looked remarkably similar to game one if you go by the box score, but the Bengal pitcher had a bit tougher time getting the outs in the second go-round.
Freshman pitcher Ashlyn Ames gave up 10 hits, but only a single run and went the distance as the ISU bats once again came alive to give the Bengals a 7-1 victory in game two.
Despite the double-digit hit total for the T-Birds, the young Ames remained poised and got out of every jam she got in, with the sole Thunderbird run coming in the final inning with the game all but decided.
Sophomore catcher/infielder Dara Kolar drilled her seventh home run of the season in game two to help seal the deal for the Bengals.
Game three of the three-game set on March 28 saw the Thunderbirds double their run production from games one and two combined.
It wasn’t nearly enough.
Another sensational Galasso game propelled the Bengals to a 13-4 victory over the Thunderbirds, completing the sweep on Southern Utah and exacting some revenge from last year’s conference championship loss.
Galasso and junior infielder Maddy Hickman each hit two-run homers in the first inning.
The Bengals pushed three more runs through in the second, and led 7-2 after just two frames. In the third inning, sophomore Kacie Burnett scorched a two-run double down the line, Galasso singled in a run and the Bengals snuck another run through on a throwing error to push the lead to 11-2 by the end of the third.
The Bengals will be back in action at Miller Ranch Stadium in Pocatello for a two-game set against Weber State April 3 and 4. Start times will be at 2 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
