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POCATELLO, Idaho - After an impressive showing at the Red Desert Classic two weeks ago, Idaho State softball plays five games against, four opponents at the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.
ISU starts the weekend Friday with a game against Boston College at 11 a.m. and an afternoon game against Drake at 1:30 p.m. On Saturday, ISU faces Seton Hall at 2:30 p.m. before playing host Arizona State at 7 p.m. The Bengals close out the tournament on Sunday against ASU at 1:30 p.m..
Idaho State is 5-1, tying the record for the best start in program history. The Bengals were 5-0 before their loss to Nebraska-Omaha in the tournament finale.
Red Desert Classic
ISU defeated Utah State, 10-7, in the opener Thursday evening. On Friday, the Bengals beat Texas-Arlington, 5-4, and Utah Valley, 7-3. On Saturday, ISU beat Nevada, 11-5 and Grand Canyon, 10-8. ISU lost to Nebraska-Omaha, 6-3, on Sunday.
Kacie Burnett shined in her ISU debut. The freshman had a .611 batting average in six games and scored nine runs. She was named the Big Sky Player of the Week for her efforts.
Terah Blackwell and
Vicky Galasso had 10 RBIs each and
Maddy Hickman added nine. Freshman
Dara Kolar had a homerun in her first collegiate at-bat.
Haley Douglas had a 2-1 record and a 2.42 ERA in five appearances at the Red Desert Classic.
Bailey Foster was 3-0 in five appearances with a 5.51 ERA.
Diamond Devil Invitational Opponents
Idaho State will play Boston College and Seton Hall for the first time in program history. ISU played Drake twice in 2011 and lost both matchups. The Bengals have an all-time record of 0-5 against Arizona State. The first meeting was in 1979
Boston College
Boston College is 2-3 after its first weekend of softball. The Eagles went 14-38 last season and are led by third year coach Ashley Obrest. Outfielder, Megan Cooley leads BC with six hits and a .316 batting average. Pitcher, Nicole d'Argento is 2-2 in four appearances with a 0.86 ERA.
BC has wins against Central Arkansas (6-0) and Valparaiso (4-0) and losses to Memphis (5-3, 9-1) and No. 5 Michigan (6-5).
Drake
The Bulldogs are 0-10 after two tournaments. Two of their losses came against No. 16 Baylor (4-2) and No. 14 Missouri (9-0).
Liz Buck has a .385 batting average and Rebekah Schmidt has a 4.81 ERA in nine appearances.
Seton Hall
In two tournaments Seton Hall is 3-4 with wins over UMass-Lowell (13-1), Drexel (9-1), and Delaware State (7-1). The Pirates lost 24-1 to Valparaiso when they gave up 12 runs in one inning. Meredith Henze leads the Pirate attack with a .556 batting average and a 1.333 slugging percentage. Casey Moses has a team-high 2.50 ERA in five appearances.
Arizona State
The No. 4 ranked Sun Devils are 11-0 and have outscored their opponents 81-14. Nine of the ten ASU batters with 10 or more at bats have a batting average of .333 or better. Mackenzie Popescue is 6-0 in the circle with a 0.59 ERA and Dallas Escobedo is not far behind with a 5-0 record and a 0.64 ERA.
Burnett Named Big Sky Player of the Week
Bengal outfielder
Kacie Burnett was named the Big Sky Softball Player of the Week for the games played Feb. 5-10. Burnett, a freshman from Napa, Calif., had 11 hits and scored nine runs to help Idaho State open the season 5-1 at the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah.
She had a .611 batting average and filled an important role hitting at the No. 2 position ahead of Idaho State's power lineup of
Vicky Galasso,
Terah Blackwell,
Maddy Hickman and fellow freshman
Dara Kolar.
Preseason Big Sky Favorites
Last season the Bengals were picked to finish last in the Big Sky by the coaches. The Bengals surprised everyone when they went 14-4 in Big Sky play to win the rights to host the first-ever Big Sky Conference softball championship.
This season the Bengals won't be surprising anyone as they were picked first by the coaches in the preseason poll.
Returning Honor Winners
Vicky Galasso is the reigning Big Sky Player of the Year and sophomore
Maddy Hickman was the 2013 Big Sky Freshman of the Year. Four other returning Bengals received honors from the Big Sky for their play in 2013.
Galasso's Preseason Honors
Vicky Galasso received preseason recognition from two national organizations leading up to the start of the 2014 season.
USA Softball named Galasso to their Top 50 Watch List and she earned third-team preseason All-American honors from College Sports Madness.
Power
Idaho State will look to continue its strong hitting in the 2014 season. The 2013 squad ranked near the top of the NCAA in slugging percentage (5th), home runs (7th), batting average (8th), scoring (12th), and triples (28th).
Returning Starters
The Bengals return eight starters from last year's championship squad.
Five New Bengals
Four freshmen and one Division I transfer will add to the Bengal depth this season.
Sarah Hayes,
Kacie Burnett,
Dara Kolar and
Jennie Murillo are freshmen on the 2014 roster.
Jessica Tolmie is a sophomore transfer from Temple.
Team Captains
Terah Blackwell,
Vicky Galasso,
Hailey Breakwell and
Katee Wiley will serve as captains for the 2014 season.
We Are Your Bengals
