Bengals to Play Five in New Mexico

Notes

POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State softball team travels to Albuquerque, N.M. to play five games in three days in the New Mexico Invitational.

The Bengals play North Dakota State on Friday at 12 p.m. and Saturday at 12 p.m., New Mexico on Friday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 12 p.m., and Buffalo Saturday at 10 a.m.

ISU is 6-5 after two tournaments. The Bengals were 5-1 after the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah, but lost four-of-five at the Diamond Devil Invitational in Tempe, Ariz.

Freshman Kacie Burnett leads the Bengals with a .515 batting average.  Terah Blackwell has 15 RBIs while Vicky Galasso has 14 RBIs, including four home runs. Maddy Hickman has 10 RBIs. Six Bengals have a batting average over .300.

Bailey Foster has a 5.06 ERA and a 3-1 record to lead the Bengal pitching staff.

Diamond Devil Invitational
Idaho State lost four games last week, two against No. 4 Arizona State, at the Diamond Devil Invitational.

The Bengals took Boston College to the brink when they came from behind to force an eighth inning. ISU scored one run in the top of the eighth but the Eagles scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to earn the 7-6 win.

The Bengals fell to Drake, 12-4, but rebounded to defeat Seton Hall 14-5. The game started with a Kacie Burnett triple to center and ended on a Vicky Galasso walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The final two games of the invitational came against powerhouse Arizona State. The Sun Devils defeated ISU 11-1 Saturday night and 13-4 Sunday morning to close out the tournament.

New Mexico Invitational Opponents
Idaho State will play North Dakota State and Buffalo for the first time in program history. The Bengals have an all-time 2-6 record against New Mexico and have faced the Lobos once since the return of softball in 2007. ISU lost 9-8 to the New Mexico in 2012.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State is 9-5 after three tournaments. The Bison have wins over Notre Dame, Houston and Southern Miss. Three of the five losses on the season came at the hands of No. 12 Florida State.

Alex Sobrero leads NDSU with a .421 batting average and Cheyanne Garcia and Logan Moreland have 10 RBIs each.
Krista Menke is 7-1 in the circle for North Dakota State and has an impressive 1.62 ERA.
 
New Mexico
New Mexico is 1-13 after three weeks. The lone win came in an 11-10 decision over UC Riverside. The Lobos have played five ranked teams including three in the top ten (Arizona State, Alabama and UCLA.)
 
Two UNM batters hit above .300 in Naomi Tellez (.364) and Chelseas Anaya (.349). Tellaz also leads the Lobos with six RBIs.
 
Carrie Sheehan leads the Lobos in the circle with a 6.11 ERA and a 1-6 record in 11 appearances.
 
Buffalo
After two tournaments Buffalo is 8-3 on the season. The Bulls defeated Texas Tech 5-0 and Big Sky opponent Northern Colorado 4-1.
Five Bull players have a batting average above .300, led by Holly Luciano (.406) and Alexis Curtiss (.400). Luciano leads BU with 10 RBIs.

Two Buffalo pitchers have an ERA under 1.80. Heather Ryder has a 1.40 ERA with a 2-0 record in three appearances. Tori Speckman has a 1.77 ERA with a 5-2 record in eight appearances.
 
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.