April 17, 2009
Box Score
Pocatello, ID --- Idaho State tied their season-high with 15 hits, and the Bengals hit the ball all over Rainey Park as the Bengals rode their offense to the tune of a 7-2 win over Northern Colorado in the first game of a three-game weekend series. Shortstop Jessica Baca crushed her 10th home run of the season, and Caitlin McGrath had three singles to break the single-season record for hits in a season.
The win pushed Idaho State to 16-19 on the season, and with six games left in the season, ISU needs four wins to break the 20-win plateau for just the third time in school history. Northern Colorado, who along with Idaho State will be members of the Mountain Division of the Pacific Coast Softball Conference starting next year, dropped to 16-24.
The Bengals took the lead for good in the bottom of the first inning. McGrath singled to tie Chris Shoemaker's record of 46 hits in a season to lead the game off, and then she stole second, her seventh steal of the season. Megan Miller reached on a bunt after a strike out, and then she was safe at second on an error, loading the bases with one out. Jennifer Martensen then singled home two runs to give ISU a 2-1 lead.
ISU made it 3-1 in the second when Emily Hu singled home Krista Armstrong, who singled in her first at bat in three weeks after taking a grounder in the throat during practice. Northern Colorado answered back with an unearned run. Melisa Ryba singled and got all the way to third when the ball got past McGrath for a two-base error. She scored on a groundout, but that was the last run they would get. The Bears scored in the top of the first when ISU pitcher Kandis Clesson walked Jessie Schoepflin, who stole her 12th base of the year and then scored on a single by Ryba.
Clesson worked out of trouble as she scattered six hits and walked four, hitting two others as well. Alex Neely tripled to open the second inning off "Big Black", the manual scoreboard in left, becoming the first player to hit it, but she was stranded there. NC would eventually leave nine on base.
ISU, up 3-2 in the fifth, blew it open with three in the bottom of the frame. Martensen led off the inning with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Merissa Jannsen. Brittany Olsin then doubled into the left-centerfield gap to make it 4-2. Armstrong singled to make it first and third, and at that point Courtney Maihi relieve Jamie Jeulfs. Maihi's first pitch went to the backstop allowing Olsin to score to make it 5-2, and then McGrath got her third hit of the game, scoring Armstrong. Northern Colorado got out of the inning on a weird play when Emily Hu's bunt to third couldn't be fielded for a hit, and McGrath, seeing the base open, raced to third. However, Kailee Vessey threw to left fielder Ryba, who alertly raced in and covered the bag for the out.
ISU capped the scoring in the sixth when Jessica Baca hit a towering home run, her 10th and hit 25-feet up on the light pole beyond the 222-foot sign in left center.
Kandis Clesson picked up the win, giving her 13 for the year, breaking a tie she held all week with Tammy Sorensen and Jo Skelton, who both won 12 games in 1979 for the old ISU record. McGrath had three hits, and now has 48. Miller had a pair of hits and now has 46. Krista Armstrong had three hits in her first game back as six starters recorded at least two hits apiece for ISU. Ryba and Kelli Henderson each had two hits for the Bears.
Idaho State and Northern Colorado finish their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday at Rainey Park starting at noon.
NOTES: ISU also had 15 hits against Central Connecticut State earlier this season ... Baca committed a pair of errors in the first inning, but also turned in a stellar diving stop in the hole to get the speedy Schoepflin in the fourth ... Clesson's complete game was her 21st, also a new school record ... McGrath's average is up to .391, and she has a nine-game hitting streak, and has hit safely in 21-of-22.
