Bengals Host Utah State in Home Opener

Notes l Live Video l Live Audio l Live Stats

Idaho State softball opens the 2014 home season with a game against Utah State, Tuesday, April 8, at 4 p.m. before playing a weekend series against Sacramento State. The Bengals and Hornets play a doubleheader Friday, at Miller Ranch Stadium starting at 1 p.m. and a single game, Saturday, also at 1 p.m.

There is no admission fee for the game and live video, live audio and live stats will all be available on-line. Live video will be available via EISN, live audio on ISUBengals.com and live stats via bengalsstats.com.

The Week That Was
Idaho State went 2-1 in a road series at Weber State. The series opened Friday with a doubleheader. The Wildcats blanked ISU 5-0 in the first game but the Bengals won 11-5 in the second game. On Saturday four Bengals hit home runs in a 20-4, five inning win.

Katee Wiley was six-for-10 with three doubles and three RBIs and Terah Blackwell was five-for-10 with five RBIs to lead Idaho State.

Haley Douglas and Bailey Foster each earned wins in the circle for the Bengals and Jessica Tolmie was perfect in two relief innings.

About Utah State
Utah State holds a 26-14 all-time record over Idaho State. The Bengals won the two previous meetings this season with a 10-7 victory on Feb. 6, and a 9-4 win on March 7.

The Aggies are 15-20 on the season. USU has a team batting average of .244 and a team ERA of 4.34.

Victoria Saucedo has a .342 batting average to lead the Aggie offense. Noelle Johnson has a 14-12 record and a 3.20 ERA to lead USU in the circle.Steve Johnson is in his first season as Head Coach at Utah State.

Bengals in the NCAA Stats
Idaho State has the sixth best batting average in the country at .341. ISU ranks 6th in scoring at 7.03 runs per game and has the 23rd best slugging percentage at .501.

Individually, Vicky Galasso ranks eighth in home runs at 13, 10th in home runs per game at 0.36, fourth in RBIs per game at 1.42, seventh in runs per game at 1.25, sixth in sacrifice flies with four and 25th in slugging percentage at .787.

Kacie Burnett has the 15th best batting average in the country at .460. She is tied with Galasso for seventh in runs per game at 1.25 and is second in triples with five.

Terah Blackwell is second in RBIs per game at 1.47. She is 32nd in slugging percentage with .777 and 23rd in home runs with 11. Maddy Hickman is tied with Galasso for sixth in sacrifice flies with four.

Did You Know
The Bengals 21-15 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 (.341), slugging percentage (.501), on base percentage (.416), runs scored (253), hits (346), RBI (226), Doubles (49), total bases (510), walks (125), sacrifice flies (20), stolen bases (49) and steal attempts (54).

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 (.460), hits (58), triples (5), runs scored (45), stolen bases (19) and stolen base attempts (21). Vicky Galasso is first in the league in slugging percentage (.780), runs scored (45), home runs (12), sacrifice flies (4) and she is tied with Burnett for runs scored (45). Terah Blackwell is first in the league in total bases (87), doubles (10) and RBIs (54). Katee Wiley is tied with Burnett for Doubles (10) and Maddy Hickman is tied with Galasso for the lead in sacrifice flies (4).

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 .341 batting average and has hit 33 home runs, totaled 347 hits and 226 RBIs.

 Bengal Bites
- The 20 runs that the Bengals scored against Weber State are the most by any Big Sky team this season. It is also the third time in Idaho State history that the Bengals have scored 20 or more runs and the first since 1978.
- Idaho State's 19 hits vs. Lafayette on March 14 and again against BYU on March 29 are the most by a Big Sky Conference team this season. The 16 RBIs against Lafayette, Buffalo on March 1, and Weber State on April 5, 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.