Denim Millward
Sports Editor
A hellacious road trip to open the season couldn’t stop them.
A challenging conference schedule couldn’t stop them.
You can call them unstoppable, and now you can also call them champions.
The Idaho State softball team clinched its second consecutive Big Sky regular season conference championship on May 3 after rallying to beat North Dakota 8-3 in the final game of the regular season.
In addition to earning the Bengals their second regular season conference championship in a row, the triumph also gave Idaho State the advantage of hosting the conference tournament in the friendly confines of Miller Ranch Stadium right here in Pocatello.
As has repeatedly been the case this season, the Bengals’ bats came alive late.
Facing a 3-1 deficit after five innings, and with the fate of the regular season in the balance, the Idaho State offense roared to life beginning with back-to-back singles by junior Hailey Breakwell and redshirt senior Terah Blackwell.
In one swing of the bat, junior Gabby Lopez knotted the game up at 3 with a triple that brought home two.
“Gabby had the biggest hit that we have had all season,” Head Coach Julie Wright said to the ISU Sports Information Department. “She amazes me when she comes off the bench.”
Sophomore Michaela Taylor knocked in Lopez with an RBI single to left that put ISU on top 4-3.
Freshman Kacie Burnett tacked on two more runs with a two-RBI double later in the inning, and eventually came across when junior Vicky Galasso reached base following a North Dakota error.
Idaho State added one more run in the top of the seventh, which brought the game to the final 8-3 score.
Sophomore pitcher Jessica Tolmie pitched the final 3.1 innings of the game and picked up the win, effectively shutting down the North Dakota offense by striking out four while only surrendering a single hit.
“Jessica Tolmie did exactly what we needed her to do,” Wright said to Sports Information. “She was brilliant in relief.”
To North Dakota’s credit, the team fought hard and made the Bengals earn the final win.
The day prior, the Bengals shellacked North Dakota, ending game one early by the score of 11-1 after five innings.
Though it was looking as if the Bengals could possibly cruise to their championship-clinching victory in game two, North Dakota countered a top-of-the-seventh rally by ISU with one of its own and won the game 6-5 in walk-off fashion.
“North Dakota played a great series,” Wright said to Sports Information. “They made us work for every out, hit and run.”
The Bengals, who finished the regular season with sparkling records of 13-4 in the Big Sky Conference and 32-18, will look to continue their winning ways May 8 at 1 p.m. when they face off against Northern Colorado in the opening game of the Idaho Central Credit Union Big Sky Conference Tournament.
The winner of the Idaho State vs Northern Colorado game will go on to face the winner of the Southern Utah vs Sacramento State bout, which will be held at 4 p.m. on May 8.
The following day, the two teams that lost the first games will face off, with the losing team being eliminated.
The winner of that game will play the loser of the game between the two winning teams from the first round. The winner will go on to play the final unbeaten team at 1 p.m. on May 10, and again at 4 p.m. if necessary.
While the conference tournament is essentially a brand new season with very little margin for error, the Bengals’ collective 6-2 regular season record against the other three teams in the tournament makes them the team to beat heading into the tournament.
