March 7, 2010
Box Score
Complete Stat Packet: Samford 3, Idaho State 2 
Tempe, AZ --- Kandis Clesson didn't allow a hit from early in the first through the fifth innings, but a one-out home run in the bottom of the sixth inning by Katie England gave Samford a 3-2 lead, and ISU left the tying and winning runs on base in the seventh, as the Bengals lost their fifth straight, this to Samford in the final game of the Wilson/DeMarini Classic.
The Bengalsm who were severely shorthanded for a third straight game, got another masterful performance from Clesson, who allowed singles to the first two batters of the game, and then nothing after that until the homer in the sixth. Both of those leadoff singles came around to score in the first, giving Samford a 2-0 lead.
The Bengals, who only have 14 players, played with just 11 as Courtney Darby and Brittany Olsin both sat out again after colliding with each other on Saturday, and Jennifer Martensen missed a fifth straight game with an illness. That meant ISU used all nine position players, and the only bench player available was pitcher Nora Maschue, making for a lonely bench when ISU was in the field.
Still, the Bengals got one run back in the third when Desirae Hoffman, who went 4-for-4 to raise her average to an astonishing .543, singled, and then scored on a double by Taylor Marchione. Marchione couldn't score on a hard single by Megan Miller, and she was then stranded at third on a Jessica Baca groundout.
It stayed 2-1 until the top of the sixth, when Megan Miller tied it with a leadoff home run to center field. However, the lead was short lived as England homered with one down in the bottom half of the inning to give Samford the 3-2 lead. ISU then got back-to-back two-out singles by Hoffman and Marchione, but Miller grounded out to end the game.
Clesson allowed just three hits in the loss, walking only two and striking out six. Her counterpart Robyn Harmon allowed two runs on 10 hits with no walks and three strikeouts. ISU's first three batters, Hoffman, Marchione, and Miller, went 8-for-11, but the rest of the lineup was just 2-for-18, with both hits by Erin Olander.
The Bengals finished the Wilson/DeMarini Classic at 0-5. Their game with #2 Arizona later on Sunday was rained out and will not be made up.
NOTES: Clesson's ERA lowered once again to 3.94 ... Hoffman's four hits was the first four-hit game by a Bengal this year, and she, Marchione, and Miller all had their fifth multi-hit games of the season ... Missing Martensen for the tournament hurt, as she had a team-leading eight runs batted in over just seven games, and despite missing the five games, she maintained the team lead ... ISU has been outhomered 10-4 this season, and opponents have 31 stolen bases to just four for the Bengals.
