Bengals Travel to Montana

Notes | Game 1 Stats | Game 2 Stats | Game 3 Stats | PLUTO TV Channel 237 |

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State softball team closes out the month of March with a three-game series at Montana on March 30-31. The double header on March 30 begins at 1 p.m. and the single-game on the 31st is at 1 p.m. Live stats are available for all three games through isubengals.com. All three games can viewed on Pluto TV Channel 237 and SWX will broadcast the doubleheader on Saturday.

Bengals Against The Field
Montana (6-8) 3-3 Home, 3-3 Away, 0-2 Neutral
3/21/2015     A     W     5-3
3/21/2015     A     W     5-4
3/22/2015     A     L     6-3
3/12/2016     N     L     14-9
4/8/2016         H     W     6-4
4/8/2016         H     W     8-7 (8)
4/9/2016         H     W     12-9
4/29/2017     A     L     1-0
4/29/2017     A     L     6-3
4/30/2017     A     W     5-3 (8)
5/11/2017     N     L     8-0 (6)
3/24/2018     H     L     1-0
3/24/2018     H     L     6-1
3/25/2018     H     L     4-2

Scouting Montana
Montana is 10-21 and playing its Big Sky Conference opener this weekend. The Griz are 5-1 at home. Montana hits .263 as a team and the pitching staff boasts a 4.58 era.
Colleen Driscoll is 5-7 and has a 3.85 era in 63.2 innings of work. Jessica McAlister leads the offense with a .329 average and Maygen McGrath is hitting .319. McGrath is the top home run hitter with three. Cami Sellers, who is hitting .311, has a team-best 16 RBIs.

Recapping Portland State
 The Idaho State softball team opened Big Sky Conference play with a doubleheader sweep over Portland State. The Bengals took the first two games in the three-game series with a 2-1 win in the opener and a 7-6 win in the following game at Miller Ranch Stadium.

 Idaho State tallied 16 hits between the two games with Emma Bordenkecher leading the way. ISU's right fielder was 5-7 with five RBIs, one home run, a double and a trio of singles. Aubrey Creekmore also had an impressive day at the plate with her first home run of the season, two doubles and a single in a 4-6 effort.
 
MaKenzie Van Sickle, Billie Jean Wells and Danni Ryan all added one RBI apiece. In all, seven Bengals tallied a hit.
 
Autumn Pease collected the win in game 1 after pitching a no-hitter through six innings. The freshman pitched eight innings, allowed three hits and one run, and tallied six strikeouts with just one walk in her seventh victory of the season. Mariah Mulcahy was the winning pitcher in game 2 after going the full seven. The junior allowed 11 hits and six runs while striking out four and walking two.

Multiple Hit Games
Emma Bordenkecher's 4-4 game vs. Portland State on March 23 was not the first of her career. On April 22, 2017 vs. Weber State she was also 4-4 with three runs scored, three RBIs and one homer. This was the first four-hit game by the Bengals since Kacie Burnett did it on May 13, 2017 vs. Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament. That year Burnett had four four-hit games.

Multiple RBI Games
Emma Bordenkecher's five RBIs vs. Portland State was the second of her career. She also had five RBIs on March 25, 2017 vs. Portland State. Haley Harrison, Kacie Burnet and Ashley Ames all had five RBI games during the 2017 season. Ames had seven RBIs vs. Penn State on March 4, 2017.
 
Improved Pitching
The Bengal pitching staff has greatly improved since last year. In 2018, the Bengal pitching staff had a 6.32 era through 28 games. This year the pitching staff has a 4.48 era. Autumn Pease has the best era at 2.66. She has a 6-2 record in a team-best 68.1 innings of work.  Teams are hitting .226 off Pease.

Bordenkecher Improved At The Plate
Emma Bordenkecher hit .273 with two home runs and 20 RBIs in 2018. This year she is hitting .369 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. As a freshman in 2017 she hit .281 with eight homers and 33 RBIs.