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This Week in Idaho State Softball
Idaho State softball continues a five-game trip to Utah with a three-game series against Brigham Young. The series kicks off with a single game Friday at 6 p.m. and continues Saturday with a double-header starting at 1 p.m.
Earlier this Week
The Bengals rallied to beat Utah Valley 9-8, in eight innings Tuesday afternoon before falling 8-6 to Utah Wednesday on a walk-off home run.
Hailey Breakwell was five-for-eight with two home runs, a double and three RBIs in the two games.
Vicky Galasso was five-for-seven with three RBIs and a home run.
Bailey Foster pitched the last five innings against Utah Valley to earn the win.
About Brigham Young
BYU holds a 12-3 all-time advantage over the Bengals. The last time the two schools met was in the 2012 season. ISU beat BYU 7-4 in Pocatello and lost 5-2 in Provo.
BYU is 11-18 this season. The Cougars have wins over No. 2 Tennessee 6-3, on Feb. 27 and No. 3 Oregon 6-5, on Tuesday.
BYU has a .266 team batting average and a 4.35 team ERA. Head Coach Gordon Eakin holds a 460-218 record and is in his 12th season.
Bengals in the NCAA Stats
As of March 24, Idaho State has the eighth best batting average in the country at .338. ISU ranks 11th in scoring at 6.75 runs per game and has the 28th best slugging percentage at .490.
Individually,
Vicky Galasso ranks seventh in home runs per game at .39, seventh in home runs with 11, third in RBIs per game at 1.50, 10th in runs per game at 1.21, and 29th in slugging percentage at .802.
Kacie Burnett has the 16th best batting average in the country at .469, she ranks 12th in runs per game at 1.18 and is fourth in triples with four.
Terah Blackwell is 25th in home runs with eight.
Did you know
The Bengals 18-12 record is the best start to a season since the program was brought back in 2007.
Bengals Earning Weekly Big Sky Conference Honors
The Bengals have earned four of the seven conference player of the week honors.
Kacie Burnett earned it week one.
Vicky Galasso earned the honor on March 4 and Burnett earned the honor again for her performance at the UC Riverside Highlander Classic.
Katee Wiley won the award after her performance in Boise.
Haley Douglas also brought home conference pitcher of the week honors for her performance at UC Riverside.
Leading the League
The Idaho State offense leads the Big Sky Conference in 11 statistical categories. The Bengals are the top team in the conference in batting average (.336), slugging percentage (.490), on base percentage (.410), runs scored (189), hits (262), RBI (171), total bases (382), walks (89), sacrifice flies (17), stolen bases (40) and steal attempts (43).
Leading the League (Individual Stats)
Individually, the Bengals are a top the conference stats in 13 offensive categories.
Kacie Burnett is first in the conference in batting average (.469), hits (46), triples (4), stolen bases (15) and stolen base attempts (16).
Vicky Galasso is first in the league in slugging percentage (.793), RBI (42), runs scored (34), home runs (11), total bases (65), walks (20) and sacrifice flies (3).
Terah Blackwell is first in the league in doubles (8) and is tied with Galasso for total bases.
Katee Wiley and
Maddy Hickman are tied with Galasso for the lead in sacrifice flies (3).
The Power Continues
Last year ISU hit over .300 for the first time since the program was brought back in 2007. The Bengals finished with a .329 average, the second best mark in program history. The 1977 team finished the season with a .351 batting average. The 2013 team also set single season records in home runs with 78 and RBIs with 315. This year's ISU squad has already hit 22 home runs, totaled 239 hits and 160 RBIs.
Bengal Bites
- The 16 runs scored vs. Buffalo on March 1, and again vs. Lafayette on March 14, is the most runs a Big Sky Conference team has scored in a game this season.
- Idaho State's 19 hits vs. Lafayette on March 14, is the most by a Big Sky Conference team this season and the 16 RBIs in the same game and against Buffalo on March 1, is the most by any team in the league.
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Kacie Burnett's five hits vs. Utah State on March 7, is the most by a Big Sky Conference player to this point in the season.
- The four runs
Vicky Galasso scored against Buffalo on March 1, is the most by any Big Sky player.
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.
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
