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Box Score 2
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The Idaho State Bengals defeated Nevada 11-5 and Grand Canyon 10-8 in eight innings on Saturday at the Red Desert Classic in St. George, Utah to stay unbeaten through the first five games of the 2014 season.
Hailey Douglas pitched a complete game to beat Nevada and was awarded the win over Grand Canyon in relief to score her first two wins of the season.
"I thought Hailey Douglas was tremendous today," Head Coach
Julie Wright said. "I have a great amount of respect for the Nevada offense and Hailey did a really great job through six innings holding them to one run. In the seventh she was a little fatigued but that was her game to finish and she got it done."
In the Nevada game, the Bengals were paced by
Terah Blackwell who had five RBIs on three hits.
The win was the first game of the five that the Bengals didn't have to come from behind to get the win.
Against Grand Canyon, catcher
Vicky Galasso had five RBIs on two home runs to pace ISU. Galasso has struggled by her usual standards so far this season. She is hitting .250, but three of her four hits have been home runs and she has a team-high 10 RBIs.
"When you have all the success that Vicky has had, everyone knows who you are," Wright said. "People are pitching around her and she doesn't get as many good pitches to attack. She is going to learn to be more patient and take the walks when she is given them. She is a very, very good hitter and she is starting to figure out how to hit while being very well known."
The Bengals have gotten big contributions from the two lead off spots in the first five games.
Kacie Burnett has a gaudy .625 batting average at the No. 2 spot, while leadoff hitter
Katelyn Marquez is hitting a .381.
"
Kacie Burnett is leading us in hitting and she is doing it the right way. She is playing her game," Wright said. "She has worked very hard and she is an outstanding person, student and athlete. The team is really excited about how she is playing in the offense. When you combine her with
Katelyn Marquez, who is playing equally as well, it is setting a lot of things up for our 3-4-5 hitters."
Another big advantage for Idaho State has been the strong play of the outfield despite the limited amount of throwing practice the team has had.
"Our outfield hasn't had the opportunity to play outside, on a field, since October," Wright said. "They have been spot-on and they have made every right decision. They are doing things that haven't shown up in the box score but have been a big part of what we are doing defensively."
Idaho State 11, Nevada 5
The Bengals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Blackwell singled to first to drive in Burnett from second base.
Douglas started the game with three no-hit innings before allowing her first hit in the fourth when the Wolfpack loaded the bases.
Douglas worked out of the jam to preserve the shutout for the time being.
The Bengals scored five runs in the top of the fifth when Blackwell doubled with the bases loaded to drive in
Gabby Lopez and Marquez.
Maddy Hickman then singled to right field to drive in Galasso and Blackwell.
Jennie Murillo pinch ran for Hickman and scored on a sac-fly by
Dara Kolar.
Nevada scored in the bottom of the fifth to cut the lead to 6-1 but the Bengals scored one in the sixth on a sac-fly by Blackwell and four in the seventh to give ISU a four run lead.
Nevada scored four in the bottom half of the seventh but it was too little, too late and ISU prevailed 11-5.
ISU 10, Grand Canyon 8 – Eight Innings.
The Bengals scored two runs in the first inning and one in the second but Grand Canyon scored three in the first and four in the second to jump to a 7-3 lead.
Starting pitcher
Bailey Foster was replaced in the second inning by sophomore transfer
Jessica Tolmie in her first appearance as a Bengal.
"I thought Jessica did awesome for her first outing of the season," Wright said. "I was really impressed with the way she handled herself and controlled the game. She kept us in that game."
The ISU defense held the Lopes scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth innings while the Bengal offense added two runs in the third and three runs in the fourth to take an 8-7 lead.
"Grand Canyon came out really fast on us and they had us on our heels defensively," Wright said. "Our pitchers kept grinding and our offense did what they always do which is string plays together and put runs on the board."
Grand Canyon tied the game up on a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. The score held to force extra innings for the first time in the young ISU season.
The eighth inning started with a runner on second base. The "international" extra-innings rule is meant to help end games quickly in a tournament setting.
The Bengals took advantage of the extra base runner to score two early runs.
With
Katee Wiley on second base Marquez singled to third where the throw to first was off target and the ball bounced into the outfield, allowing Wiley to score. Marquez showed her speed as she scored all the way from first, just beating out the throw at the plate.
The Bengals sat the GC lineup down in order to finish the 10-8 win.
"In the sixth inning when they tied up the game I saw the look in our girls' eyes and I knew they weren't going to lose," Wright said. "We won in extra innings and that is what I thought we would do, win the fight."
The Bengals close out the tournament with Nebraska-Omaha at 11 a.m. Sunday. Live stats will be available at isubengals.com.
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