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ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Idaho State softball team is off to its best start since bringing back the program in 2007. The Bengals split Saturday in the second day of the Red Desert Classic defeating Utah Valley 11-3 in six innings before falling to BYU in a back-and-forth battle 7-4. The Bengals are now 2-2 on the season, marking the first time the program has been at .500 since 2007.
Sophomore
Vicky Galasso, sophomore
Hailey Breakwell and senior
Amanda Fitzsimmons all hit homeruns during the day and Galasso now has three on the season already. Breakwell's homer against Brigham Young was her second of the season.
Freshman
Katelyn Marquez had a good day at the plate for the Bengals. The Signal Hill, Calif., native went 2-3 against the Wolverines and 2-4 against the Cougars with one RBI. Galasso batted 4-6 for the day and recorded three RBIs.
Idaho State 11, Utah Valley 3
The Bengals jumped out a 2-0 lead in the first inning off a two-run homerun by Fitzsimmons, bringing in Marquez on the play.
Idaho State scored three runs in the third inning as senior Tereh Blackwell batted in Galasso and Marquez off a double to left center to give Idaho State a 4-0 lead. Blackwell scored on a single by freshman
Maddy Hickman, giving ISU a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the third.
The Wolverines got on the board in the fourth inning, scoring three runs as Kylee Brinkerhoff brought two runners in off a single through the right side.
The Bengals answered back with two runs in the fifth and four runs in the sixth, bringing the score to 11-3 after the top of the sixth. ISU held the Wolverines and closed the contest 11-3 after six innings.
Freshman
Jackie Valdez earned her first win of the season and first of her career at the mound against the Wolverines. Valdez recorded two strikeouts in the contest.
“Our talent shined through in the Utah Valley game,” ISU Head Coach
Julie Wright said. “You could see how talented we are if we can put all the pieces together. What really beat Utah Valley was our talent. We were swinging the bats, we were getting on base and playing decent defense. I felt like offensively we were a force and we are a talented offensive team. We are young and when you're young it's your consistency that lacks but I feel like that is the type of team we can be when we get rolling.”
BYU 7, Idaho State 4
The Bengals took an early 1-0 lead over the Cougars after the first inning as a Marquez single to left field brought Molyneaux home.
BYU answered back in the third inning, scoring three runs and jumping out to a 3-1 lead. ISU rallied back in the fourth, notching three runs in the inning for a 4-3 lead. Breakwell hit her second homerun of the season in the inning, scoring Galasso and Blackwell.
BYU answered with two runs in the sixth as well as the seventh to defeat ISU 7-4.
“The team fought in the BYU game but they just made too many mistakes and I really feel like it was a lack of focus on the present moment,” Wright said. “In youth, you have some problems with that. I want them to get more consistent and to build on our successes like with UVU and try to eliminate the BYUs.”
Idaho State wraps up play at the Red Desert Classic Sunday at 11 a.m. against South Dakota (0-3).
We Are Your Bengals
