Bengals Fall to LMU and Grand Canyon on Opening Night

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State softball team opened the 2016 season in a tournament at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz., on Friday. The Bengals dropped two games, falling 7-3 to Loyola Marymount and 6-3 to Grand Canyon.

"We came out on the short end of the stick today," Idaho State coach Candi Letts said. "We did some good things but not consistently. Our rhythm needs to improve each game so we can take advantage of our skill set."

The Bengal offense was solid, hitting .304 on the day with 17 hits. Alex Portesi, Maddy Hickman and Micheala Taylor each had three hits while Katelyn Marquez and Kacie Burnett had two. Burnett has now reached base in 35 straight games dating back to last season.

Sophie Slagle took the loss in game one against LMU and Ashlyn Ames took the loss against Grand Canyon.

Loyola Marymount 7 Idaho State 3
The Bengals fell behind early, giving up three runs in the top of the first inning and was never able to recover.

LMU scored its seven runs on 11 hits and committed one error while ISU's Taylor and  Hickman combined for six of the team's eight hits. Hickman was 3-4 with all three RBIs and Taylor was 3-3.

Slagle took the loss in the circle, pitching a complete game and allowing 11 hits, four walks and three strike outs. Burnett reached base on a walk in the first inning to extend her streak of reaching base to 34 straight games, dating back to last season.

The Bengal runs came in the first, third and fifth innings. All three runs came on Hickman RBI singles. The fifth inning run cut the LMU lead to 4-3 but the Lions added two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh to earn the victory.

Grand Canyon 6 Idaho State 3
Like the first game against Loyola Marymount, Grand Canyon jumped on the Bengals early scoring three runs in the first and one in the second.

ISU scored a run in the second inning on an RBI single by Katelyn Marquez, platting Jennie Murillo. GCU scored a run in the fifth and sixth innings before the Bengals scored two in the top of the seventh. After back-to-back singles to start the seventh by Portesi and Marquez, Burnett later tripled home the runners to give ISU its final two runs of the game.

ISU scored its three runs on nine hits while committing two errors in the field. Ames scattered nine hits while allowing four walks, six runs (four earned) and two strikes outs in six innings of work.

Portesi was 3-3 and scored one run while Burnett was 2-4 with two RBIs. Marquez was 2-3 with one RBI.

ISU plays Grand Canyon at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and LMU at 5 p.m.