April 11, 2010
Box Score
Complete Game 1 Stat Book: Idaho State 8, Seattle 7 (10 innings) 
Complete Game 2 Stat Book: Idaho State 5, Seattle 4
Seattle, WA --- Down 7-3 in the ninth inning, Idaho State produced a four-run rally to keep the game going, and Taylor Marchione singled in Terah Blackwell with the winning run in the 10th inning as Idaho State took both games of a doubleheader with Seattle, winning 8-7 in 10 innings in game one and then 5-4 in game two to even their conference record at 2-2.
Both games featured big comebacks, as ISU was down 3-0 in each game. The Bengals were the designated home team for both games, and the late at bats came in handy.
ISU twice came back in game one, including a four run deficit in the ninth inning. The Redhawks got four unearned runs in the ninth off of Kandis Clesson with two outs, and it looked like ISU was going to drop to 0-3 in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference, but the Bengals rebounded, with a lot of help from some shaky Seattle defense.
Jocelyn Horton opened the inning reaching on an errant throw for the first error of the inning, and Taylor Marchione singled. Emily Hu grounded into a fielder's choice, forcing Horton, and Megan Miller walked to load the bases. Erin Olander then lofted a fly ball but it was dropped for an error, although she was credited with a sacrifice fly, and that made it 7-4. Then Courtney Darby grounded into what looked like a sure game-ending double play, but shortstop Magen MacIsaac dropped the feed at second, and all hands were safe and it was 7-5.
Jennifer Martensen then tied the game with a two-run double, but Darby had to hold up to make sure it wasn't caught, and got stranded at third, but that didn't matter. ISU held Seattle in the 10th despite starting with a runner on second due to the conference's international tiebreaker, and then in the bottom half, Terah Blackwell was sacrificed to third by Horton and scored on Marchione's single.
Nora Maschue started game one and allowed just two hits in five innings, but wildness proved her undoing as she walked in a run in the first inning and then allowed a two run home run to Sandra Hernandez, her third home run of the series, making it 3-0 Seattle.
ISU tied it in the fifth on a two-run double by Blackwell and an error.
In game two, ISU found themselves down 3-0 again after a monsterous first inning home run by Jessica Ulrich, but ISU fought back again. Megan Miller drove in a run in the third to make it 3-1, and in the fourth Terah Blackwell blasted a tying two-run homer to straight away center to make it 3-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Emily Hu gave ISU the lead, knocking in Horton with a single to center, and ISU got a needed insurance run on a passed ball. That run proved the difference when Seattle scratched an unearned run in the seventh, but Taylor Marchione made a nice play in the hole to end the game.
That play was one of several sparkling defensive plays by ISU, that included to runners caught stealing by Blackwell, a Jennifer Martersen over-the-shoulder catch in foul ground, and at least two other stellar plays at short by Marchione.
One drawback to the day was an early injury to Jessica Baca in the first inning, who got her knee twisted around on a steal attempt by Katie Petersen, and despite the injury, Baca still managed to put the tag down.
The wins put ISU right back into a tie for third in the Mountain Division behind Portland State, who is 4-0 and swept ISU's next opponent, Northern Colorado, and Utah Valley, who went 3-1 against Weber State. The Bengals host Boise State on Tuesday at 1:00 pm before hosting Northern Colorado over the weekend.
NOTES: Marchione went 6-for-10 on the day, running her hitting streak to a season-best 11 games ... Miller went 5-for-8 ... Hu and Blackwell also had three hits on the day ... ISU walked 12 in the opening game ... the 10 inning game tied for the third longest in school history, behind two 18 inning games in the early years of the program ... the conference wins were ISU's first since 1982, the last season of the Intermountain Athletic Conference ... Desirae Hoffman and Shelby Ford were not available for the day due to a violation of team rules.
