Taylor Meeks
Sports Writer
After competing in a fierce preseason schedule against nationally ranked opponents, notching several big wins in their belts and starting off Big Sky Conference play with four consecutive wins, the Idaho State University softball team only has eight more games until the end of its season.
The team opened up BSC play on March 23 with a doubleheader sweep over Portland State University at Miller Ranch Stadium. The Bengals took the first two games with scores of 2-1 in the opener and a 7-6 win in the following game. Due to poor weather conditions, the third game of the three-game series was canceled.
“Obviously, it’s very important to beat a team that is a good, scrappy and hard team to beat,” said head coach Candi Letts. “They were picked ahead of us in the preseason poll. We came out, we played well, we played hard and it reflected in two wins.”
ISU tallied 16 hits against PSU between the two games, with junior Emma Bordenkecher leading the way. The right fielder was 5-6 with five RBIs, one home run, a double and three singles.
Junior Aubrey Creekmore also was impressive at the plate, going 4-6 with her first home run of the season, two doubles and a single. MaKenzie Van Sickle, Billie Jean Wells and Danni Ryan all contributed to the Bengals win with one RBI apiece. In total, seven Bengals had a hit.
As Letts had suggested during preseason, the pitching staff was a strong suit for ISU. Freshman pitcher Autumn Pease took home game one after pitching a no-hitter through six innings. Pease only allowed three hits and one run while also notching six strikeouts with just one walk after eight innings, marking her seventh victory of the season.
Game two was won by junior pitcher Mariah Mulcahy, who pitched all seven innings. She allowed 11 hits and six runs while striking out four and walking two.
“I think our pitchers performed well enough to keep our team in the game and give us opportunities to score runs and win,” Letts said. “However, we are never satisfied, we never settle, so they have to continue to work hard to do better just like every phase of our game.”
ISU traveled to Missoula after the home win to face-off with University of Montana in its second conference game. The Bengals defeated the Grizzlies, 3-2 and 6-1, to claim the doubleheader win and improve to 13-16 overall and 4-0 in conference.
Once again, the pitching staff had a solid performance with Pease earning the 3-2 win after pitching seven innings, striking out nine, walking one and allowing only six hits. Mulcahy took game two for the team, pitching 5.1 innings, allowing six hits, one run, four walks and two strikeouts. Junior Kelsea Sweeney relieved Mulcahy for the last 1.2 innings and struck out three.
“We found a way to win the opener despite not playing sharp,” Letts said in an interview with Deputy Athletics Director Steve Shaack. “We got good pitching by Autumn and timely hitting. In the second game we played better. Aubrey was terrific at the plate today. Mariah and Kelsea Sweeney did a great job to keep Montana off the scoreboard.”
ISU had 16 hits in the first game, with Creekmore leading the way with three runs, one double, two home runs and four RBIs. Bordenkecher was 4-8 and scored one run, Van Sickle had three hits and two RBIs and Jayden DeMoss contributed two hits.
In the second game, the Bengals tallied nine hits. Creekmore was 3-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored, and Bordenkecher was 2-4.To conclude the three-game series against the Griz, ISU couldn’t maintain their performance and dropped the third 4-3.
Though the loss stung, the team rallied back last Wednesday in a huge comeback win against Utah State. After scoring five in the fourth inning, the Bengals surged past the Aggies to claim the non-conference victory, 9-6.
“It helps us coming off a tough loss against Montana,” Letts said. “To get back on the field and start to feel those good thoughts and feelings again, it helps us feel a little bit better about what we need to do going in to UNC.”
Unfortunately, ISU couldn’t keep the winning streak going at UNC. The Bears swept the three-game series, 4-3, 4-2 and 9-1, last weekend at the Gloria Rodriguez Field.
According to Letts, the team didn’t perform well, committing too many errors and leaving too many runners at base. The team had a combined 17 hits for the first two games with Bordenkecher leading the way once more in a 5-8 performance. Haley Harrison,Wells and Creekmore all had three hits apiece.
Pease and Sweeney pitched the first two games. In game one, Pease allowed four runs on six hits and struck out nine. In game two, Sweeney limited UNC to a .190 batting average after allowing just four hits.
Though ISU out-hit UNC 10-6 in game one and 7-4 in game two, the team still stranded 15 runners, eight in game one and seven in game two, and made just enough mistakes to allow UNC to take home the wins last weekend. ISU is now 14-20 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
The Bengals return home this weekend to play Weber State University in a doubleheader on April 12 at 2 p.m.
