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Live Stats
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The Bengals start the quest to defend their 2013 Big Sky Championship at the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah.
The Bengals will play six games in four days. They start the action against Utah State Thursday at 4 p.m. Then play Texas-Arlington Friday at 1:30 p.m. before playing Utah Valley at 4 p.m. On Saturday the Bengals play Nevada at 1:30 p.m. before playing Division I newcomer Grand Canyon at 4 p.m.
Idaho State finishes the tournament with an 11 a.m. game against Nebraska-Omaha at 11 a.m. Sunday morning before returning to Pocatello Sunday afternoon.
Last Year's Red Desert Classic
Last season the Bengals went 2-3 in the Red Desert Classic including a 5-4 win over Nevada and an 11-3 win over Utah Valley. Their losses came at the hands of Tennessee, BYU and South Dakota.
Red Desert Classic Opponents
The Bengals will play some familiar teams in the Red Desert Classic, they will also play some teams they are not-so familiar with.
The Bengals played Utah State four times in 2013 with and split with games 2-2. The Bengals faced Nevada three times and swept the series 3-0. The Bengals went 2-1 against Utah Valley.
The Bengals will face Texas Arlington, Nebraska-Omaha and Grand Canyon for the first time in program history.
UT-Arlington went 25-28 in 2013, Nebraska-Omaha went 36-7 and Grand Canyon went 40-19 as a Division II school.
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. The Bengals were picked to finish first in the Big Sky race by the coaches in 2014.
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 College Sports Madness named Galasso to the All-American Third-Team.
Power
Idaho State will look to continue 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 freshman 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
