POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State softball fell 7-1 to the Northern Colorado Bears Friday afternoon.
"We gained a lot of valuable experience seeing Northern Colorado's pitching staff and hitters this week that will help us get ready to play them on Wednesday in the tournament opener," remarked Head Coach Andrew Rich. "We will take a couple days off to rest up and get right back to work on Monday preparing for the Big Sky Tournament.
I am excited to watch our team compete in a postseason setting next week. This team fights like crazy and that mentality is something that will definitely come into play next week."
The two teams played a tough defensive battle for the first four innings of the game with the Bears holding a slight 1-0 lead.
The Bengals tied the game in the fourth inning at 1-1 off of a sacrifice fly by Mailee Newman.
The Bears took advantage of an offensive surge in the sixth inning to score another six runs and hold onto the lead winning the game 7-1.
Piper Tago went three-for-three batting. Angelica Cano and Skylar Sethman and Brook Richards also tacked on hits for the Bengals.
Emma McMurray allowed five hits in 5.1 innings pitched facing 24 batters with two strikeouts. Newman in relief allowed one hit on three batters faced.
Series Recap
· Newman led the Bengals this series hitting .429 with three hits and four RBIs. Frankie Tago also had four RBIs with a .375 BA
· Haley Rainey picked up her 14th win of the season and finished the weekend with a 2.00 ERA.
· Emma McMurray pitched 11 innings and fanned six Bear batters.
· Isabel Cargill hit the 9th triple of the season for the Bengals in game two vs the Bears
· The Bengals as a team are now hitting .291 while opponents are hitting .271. The ISU pitching staff has a combined 4.43 ERA after the weekend.
· Rheanne Lewis added to her Big Sky lead in stolen bases going three-for-three this series. Kaylee Butterworth added two more successful steals to her season stats.
On Deck
It's time for postseason play. The Bengals head to Ogden, Utah for the 2022 Big Sky Softball Championship Tournament May 11-14.
Follow along at ISUbengals.com to keep up to date with the team and don't forget to follow us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
