2008 Woodie Awards
Bengal softball finds sunshine and victory
Bob Devine
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Sports
As the Idaho State softball team returned home for a week of games in Pocatello, at times it seemed the weather was a greater foe than the opposing teams. An inch of snow on Monday, April 7, scratched both games against the College of Idaho which will not be made up. Then on Wednesday, the team faced Utah State in a game that had a mixture of snow and wind throughout, causing the second game to be cancelled. Utah State dominated ISU in the first game 7-0. Thursday and Friday, April 10 and 11, also saw its share of up and down weather. The elements seemed bent on wreaking continued havoc with the Bengals home schedule. But Saturday morning, April 12, the skies opened up and let in the sunshine, setting up a beautiful afternoon for softball at Rainey Park.
The first game proved full of fireworks, as Great Falls came out swinging, shelling Idaho State's pitching and scoring five runs in the first two innings. Pitcher Kandis Clesson came on in the second inning in emergency relief, and she stopped Great Falls cold in their tracks. The Bengal bats then came alive in the bottom of the second, highlighted by Ivy Sessions punch single up the middle, followed by Heather Dixon powering a home run over the wall in left center. The Bengals batted around in the second inning, as they went up 7-5.
Clesson would allow only one runner to reach base over the next four innings, while in the fifth inning both Amber Sackett and Brandi Christopher hit RBI singles for Idaho State and Brittany Olsin stole home on a double steal to make the score 10-5. In the bottom of the sixth, Olsin and Emily Hu both tripled as ISU scored three more to finish off the scoring for the game, winning 13-5.
In the second game ISU jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings, highlighted by Session's triple and Olsin's home run in the third. Pitcher Natasha Milosevich limited Great Falls to two runs over the first six innings. The score was 8-2 in the seventh when Great Falls loaded the bases and got a three run double to make the final score respectable at 8-5.
With these wins, Idaho State has won six of their last nine games, showing continued improvement after their tough road schedule early in the season. The team now has 10 days off before facing Brigham Young followed by Utah State on the road. The Bengals will then finish up their season at home on Saturday, April 26, with a doubleheader against Utah Valley beginning at noon.
The first game proved full of fireworks, as Great Falls came out swinging, shelling Idaho State's pitching and scoring five runs in the first two innings. Pitcher Kandis Clesson came on in the second inning in emergency relief, and she stopped Great Falls cold in their tracks. The Bengal bats then came alive in the bottom of the second, highlighted by Ivy Sessions punch single up the middle, followed by Heather Dixon powering a home run over the wall in left center. The Bengals batted around in the second inning, as they went up 7-5.
Clesson would allow only one runner to reach base over the next four innings, while in the fifth inning both Amber Sackett and Brandi Christopher hit RBI singles for Idaho State and Brittany Olsin stole home on a double steal to make the score 10-5. In the bottom of the sixth, Olsin and Emily Hu both tripled as ISU scored three more to finish off the scoring for the game, winning 13-5.
In the second game ISU jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings, highlighted by Session's triple and Olsin's home run in the third. Pitcher Natasha Milosevich limited Great Falls to two runs over the first six innings. The score was 8-2 in the seventh when Great Falls loaded the bases and got a three run double to make the final score respectable at 8-5.
With these wins, Idaho State has won six of their last nine games, showing continued improvement after their tough road schedule early in the season. The team now has 10 days off before facing Brigham Young followed by Utah State on the road. The Bengals will then finish up their season at home on Saturday, April 26, with a doubleheader against Utah Valley beginning at noon.
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