Softball Set For Three-Game Series at Nevada

Game Notes | Live Stats Game 1 | Live Stats Game 2 | Live Stats Game 3

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State softball team takes a break from tournament play to play a three-game series at Nevada. The Bengals play a double header on March 7 beginning at 1 p.m. (MDT) and a single-game at 1 p.m.  (MDT) on Sunday, March 8. For information on how to follow the games log onto isubengals.com.

Idaho State leads the overall series 7-3. The Bengals have won seven of the last eight meetings with the only Wolfpack win being a 6-5 victory in Reno on March 24, 2013. Idaho State won the most recent meeting 11-5 on Feb. 8, 2014. Nevada is 4-16 and hitting .297 as a team. The Wolfpack have wins over Fordham, Cal State Fullerton, UTEP and Southern Illinois. Karley Hopkins leads the Nevada offense with a .429 average. The Nevada pitching staff has a 5.82 ERA.

Up Next
Following the weekend series at Nevada, Idaho State plays its final tournament March 13-15 at No. 25 Kansas. Idaho State also plays Nebraska Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis.

Galasso Continues Climb in the Record Books
Early into Vicky Galasso's senior season she is already breaking  nearly every ISU offensive career records. She is first in the career records for runs (153), hits (213), home runs (49), RBIs (174), walks (70) and total bases (403). She is second in the career records for doubles (35) She is seven doubles from become the all-time leader in those categories.

Marquez Becomes All-Time Steals Leader
Junior Katelyn Marquez is now the ISU all-time steals leader. She broke Becky Molyneaux's record over the week at Santa Clara. Marquez has 41 stolen bases on 47 attempts, breaking Molyneaux's record of 37 on 43 attempts.

Tough Schedule
Four of Idaho State's 10 losses have come against Top 10 teams. ISU opened the season losing to No. 6/7 UCLA 13-3 in six innings. The Bengals then lost three closes games to No. 7 Louisiana Lafayette last week. ISU lost a close 3-1 contest at Cal State Fullerton, a team that is receiving votes in the Top 25. The Bengals play at No. 25 Kansas on March 14. On Feb. 7, Utah lost 2-0 to Utah, a team that is also receiving votes in the poll.

Bengal Bites
-  Kacie Burnett's streak of reaching base came to an end at 47 games. The streak ended in last Sunday's 4-2 win over Louisiana Monroe.
- ISU has won the Big Sky Conference regular season championship the last two seasons.
- Julie Wright boasts a  73-53 record at ISU since the start of the 2013 season. ISU is 26-8 in the Big Sky Conference.
- The last time ISU beat a team from the Mountain West Conference was Utah State (9-6) on April 8, 2014.

And the Winner is...
For the third straight week a Bengal has garnered Big Sky Player of the Week honors. Vicky Galasso is the most recent winniner as she was named Player of the Week for her performance at UNLV where she hit .667 (10-for-15) with three home runs and nine RBIs. Hailey Breakwell earned it last week for her performance at Santa Clara. Breakwell hit .545 with four runs scored, six RBIs and had a .909 slugging percentage.  Kacie Burnett and Sophie Slagle became the first Bengals to earn conference player of the week honors for their performance at Louisiana Lafayette. Burnett was named the Big Sky Player of the Week for hitting .429 with six hits, six runs scored and five RBIs at the Mardi Classic at Louisiana Lafayette. Slagle posted a 1-1 mark in 16.1 innings, striking out 12 and allowing five runs. Opponents only hit .207 off her in three appearances.

First Impression
Freshmen Ashlyn Ames and Kristen Williams had impressive opening weekends for the Bengals. Williams appeared in three games, where she was two-for-five from the plate with two runs scored, one double, three RBIs and a home run. Her home run was a walk-off to lift the Bengals to a 8-7 eight-inning win at Long Beach State. Williams has played well at third base when called upon the entire season. Ames pitched 12 innings and three appearances on opening weekend. She had a 4.08 era and struck out three batters. For the season Ames has pitched 43.1 innings, recorded 13 strikeouts and she is 2-3 on the season. She earned her first save against Louisiana Monroe on March 1. Ames has an ERA of 3.07.

Packing the Offensive Punch
Despite losing the offensive production of Terah Blackwell and Katee Wiley, the Bengals still return a significant portion of the record setting offense in 2014. The Bengals return 79.2 percent of the total runs scored in 2014, 70.2 percent of the RBIs, 68.9 percent of the home runs hit and 62.5 percent of the hits.

Preseason Favorites
The Idaho State softball team was picked to finish first by the coaches in the preseason poll that was released by the Big Sky Conference. This is the second consecutive year ISU has been picked first in the preseason polls.  Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the poll.

The Bengals are the two-time Big Sky Conference regular season champions, finishing the 2014 season with a 35-20 record and a 13-4 mark in Big Sky Conference play.

The Bengals return the 2014 Player of the Year in shortstop Hailey Breakwell and the unanimous 2014 Freshman of the Year, outfielder Kacie Burnett.

Vicky Galasso, the 2013 Big Sky Conference MVP and two-time first-team all-conference catcher, returns for her senior season.   Also returning for the Bengals is second-team pitcher Jessica Tolmie along with Maddy Hickman, Micheala Taylor, Sarah Hayes and Katelyn Marquez. All four earned honorable mention all-conference in 2014 and Hickman was the 2013 Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year.

Preseason Softball Poll
Team Points
1. Idaho State 48 (6)
2. Sacramento State 42 (1)
3. Northern Colorado 34
4. Southern Utah 32 (1)
5. Weber State 29
6. Portland State 16
7. Montana 14
8. North Dakota 10
(First-place votes in parenthesis)