Bengals Play Series at Weber State Friday, Saturday

Notes l Live Stats l Live Video

Idaho State Softball returns to Big Sky Conference action this weekend with a three-game series at Weber State Friday April 4 and Saturday April 5. The Bengals play a double-header Friday starting at 2 p.m. and a single game Saturday at 12 p.m.
 
The Week That Was
ISU went 2-3 in five games last week. The Bengals came from behind to defeat Utah Valley 9-8 (eight innings) Tuesday before losing 8-6 to Utah on a walk-off home run, Wednesday.
Idaho State played three games at Brigham Young on Friday and Saturday. The Bengals won 6-4 on Friday but lost both games Saturday, 11-10 and 9-2.
 
About Weber State
Idaho State holds an all-time 27-17 record over Weber State and won all three games last season. The Bengals are 9-9 all-time in Ogden.
The Wildcats are 18-15 on the season and 1-5 in Big Sky action.
Weber State has a .274 team batting average and a 3.49 team ERA. Brooke Silva leads the Wildcat offense with a .339 batting average while McCauley Flint leads WSU in the circle with a 1.87 ERA.
Mary Kay Amicone is in her first season as head coach at Weber State.
 
Bengals in the NCAA Stats
Idaho State has the seventh best batting average in the country at .338. ISU ranks 11th in scoring at 6.73 runs per game and has the 27th best slugging percentage at .492.
 
Individually, Vicky Galasso ranks eighth in home runs at 12, 11th in home runs per game at 0.36, third in RBIs per game at 1.45, 11th in runs per game at 1.21, and 34th in slugging percentage at .778.
 
Kacie Burnett has the 15th best batting average in the country at .461. She ranks 16th in runs per game at 1.15 and is second in triples with five.
Terah Blackwell is tied with Galasso for third in RBIs per game at 1.45. She is 39th in slugging percentage with .765 and 26th in home runs with 10.
 
Did You Know
The Bengals 19-14 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 eight 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 12 statistical categories. The Bengals are the top team in the conference in batting average (.338), slugging percentage (.492), on base percentage (.412), runs scored (222), hits (312), RBI (199), triples (8), total bases (456), walks (109), sacrifice flies (18), stolen bases (45) and steal attempts (50).
 
Leading the League (Individual Stats)
Individually, the Bengals are at the top of the conference stats in 14 offensive categories. Kacie Burnett is first in the conference in batting average (.461), hits (53), triples (5), stolen bases (17) and stolen base attempts (19). Vicky Galasso is first in the league in slugging percentage (.770), RBIs (48), runs scored (40), home runs (12), and sacrifice flies (3). Terah Blackwell is first in the league in total bases (78), doubles (9) and is tied with Galasso for RBIs (48). 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 a .338 batting average and has hit 29 home runs, totaled 313 hits and 199 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 and again against BYU on March 29 is the most by a Big Sky Conference team this season. The 16 RBIs against Lafayette and Buffalo on March 1, is the most by any team in the league.
- 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.