Notes l
Live Stats
POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State softball team travels to Riverside, Calif., to play four games at the Highlander Classic at UC Riverside.
The Bengals play San Diego on Friday at 10 a.m. (MST), Utah State at 12:30 p.m. (MST), UC Riverside at 3 p.m. (MST) Saturday and San Diego again at 10 a.m. (MST) Sunday.
ISU is 9-7 after three tournaments. Freshman
Kacie Burnett leads the Bengals with a .491 batting average.
Vicky Galasso is not far behind with a .408 batting average. She leads the team with 27 RBIs and seven home runs.
Terah Blackwell is hitting .377 with 23 RBIs and five home runs. Six Bengals have a batting average over .300.
Bailey Foster has a 5.05 ERA and a 4-1 record to lead the Bengal pitching staff.
New Mexico Invitational
The Bengals lost 7-4 to North Dakota State in the opening game of the tournament and followed that up with an 11-10 loss to New Mexico.
Saturday ISU got off on the right foot with a 16-7 five inning win over Buffalo but the scheduled afternoon game against North Dakota State was cancelled.
ISU and Buffalo scheduled a game to make up the missed games Sunday Morning. The Bengals won the morning game 3-1 and followed with a 12-9 win over New Mexico in a shortened-game because of ISU's travel arrangements.
Highlander Classic Opponents
Idaho State plays San Diego for the first time in program history. Utah State leads the series with ISU 13-6. Idaho State won the last two matchups, including a 10-7 victory this season. The Bengals are 1-3 against UC Riverside. ISU won the last matchup, 12-9, in 2011.
San Diego
The Toreros are 4-9 but have faced No. 16 ranked Baylor and No. 3 Washington. San Diego and Idaho State have one common opponent in Grand Canyon. The Bengals defeated Grand Canyon, 10-8, in eight innings and the Toreros lost 3-1.
Dana Prelsnik leads USD with a .351 batting average and Chloe Kaneko and Kylie Ordos have a team-high seven RBIs.
Jenny Lahitte leads the Toreros in the circle with a 3.32 ERA and a 3-4 record.
Utah State
Utah State is 5-3 after two weeks of softball. The Aggies went 4-2 at the Red Desert Classic in St. George. One of the two losses came at the hands of Idaho State in a 10-7 decision.
Utah State traveled to San Diego to play five games, but all five were rained out.
Victoria Saucedo leads the Aggies with a .435 batting average. Paxton Provost has a .333 average and a team high 10 RBIs.
Noelle Johnson has a 2.74 ERA and a 4-2 record to lead USU in the circle.
UC Riverside
The Highlanders are 9-9 and have two opponents that Idaho State has played. UCR lost to New Mexico 11-10 (Idaho State split with UNM losing 11-10 and winning 12-9) and lost to Arizona State 11-1 (Idaho State lost to ASU 11-1 and 13-4.)
Dionne Anderson leads UC Riverside with a .438 batting average and Ashley Ercolano is hitting .393 with a team-high nine RBIs.
Alyssa Razo has a 2.96 ERA and a 4-5 record. Ashley Ercolano has a 3.17 ERA and a 4-2 record.
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.
Big Sky Conference
