POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State Bengals are back in the Mountain West this week heading to Fort Collins, Co. to take on the Colorado State Rams Invite March 9-11.
While originally scheduled for Friday through Sunday, inclement weather has pushed the start to Saturday and will now run through Monday.
The Field – CSU Rams Invite
Idaho State
Colorado State
Drake
Maine
How to Follow
Only the game against Colorado State will have video the other four games will be Live Stats Only. All Times Mountain
Game 1: Idaho State vs Maine | 11:30 AM |
Live Stats
Game 2: Idaho State vs Drake | 2 PM |
Live Stats
Game 3: Drake vs Idaho State | 11:30 AM |
Live Stats
Game 4: Colorado State vs Idaho State | 4:30 PM |
Watch |
Live Stats
Game 9: Maine vs Idaho State | 9AM |
Live Stats
Walk Off vs the Mustangs
The Idaho State Bengals took down the Cal Poly Mustangs in dramatic fashion at the CBU Lancers Invite. Down to their final out in the bottom of the 7
th, down two runs, Idaho State put together an epic comeback.
Down to her final strike Freshman
Belle Navarrete slammed a ball up the middle to reach. Not to outdo her,
Skylar Williams also made it to two strikes before dashing the Mustangs hope with another single.
With two on and two outs,
Gracie Smith stepped up to the plate and on her second pitch blasted a ball over the center field wall, walking off the game for the Bengals 5-4 victory.
This was the first walk-off homerun of the season and the Bengals' 2
nd non-mercy rule walk off of 2024.
Texas Takedown
The Idaho State Bengals took on the Whataburger Invitational hosted by Tarleton State going 4-1 over the weekend.
The Bengals picked up wins over Buffalo, Mississippi Valley State and Lafayette College while dropping one game to Tarleton State
Taylor Fitzgerald led the Bengals in the circle, earning Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honors for her 2-0 record over 13.1 innings pitched. Fitzgerald only allowed two hits and one run while striking out 10 batters and not allowing a single walk all weekend. Fitzgerald held opponents to a stifling .040 batting average and finished with a 0.00 era.
The Bengal offense was on fire, outhitting opponents .341 to .160.
Angelica Cano led the Bengals on the weekend hitting .526 with 10 hits, five doubles and seven RBIS slugging .789. Six Bengals hit over .400 on the weekend over 51 combined at bats.
Preseason Picks
The Bengals were selected as the conference favorites in the 2024 Big Sky preseason coaches' poll. Idaho State, the defending regular-season champions return 15 team members to this year's squad, including six all-conference honorees and Big Sky freshman of the year
Ava Brown and Big Sky Coach of the year
Andrew Rich.
The voting breakdown was as follows.
1: Idaho State (3) – 23
2: Northern Colorado (2) – 22
3: Sacramento State (1) – 17
4: Portland State – 14
5: Weber State – 9
6: Montana – 5
Strong Veterans, Fresh Faces
The Bengals return 15 from last year's Big Sky Conference Championship team.
Ava Brown,
Emma McMurray,
Kate Hogan,
Gracie Smith,
Angelica Cano,
Madison Muxen, Kenedy Dudley,
Skyler Sethman,
Megan Weiss,
Rylee Peters,
Paige Simpson,
Olivia Robison,
Alyssa Yee,
Jillian Martinez and
Piper Tago all return for the Orange and Black.
Ava Brown earned 1
st team all-conference honors in 2023 and was named Big Sky freshman of the year.
Olivia Robison,
Angelica Cano, and
Alyssa Yee were all named 2
nd team All-Big Sky\
Skyler Sethman,
Paige Simpson and
Kennedy Dudley all earned honorable mentions in 2023 rounding out the veterans.
New to the Bengals this season are;
Camryn McDonald,
Lizzy Tommasini,
Marley Goluskin,
Jenna Kearns,
Belle Navarrete,
Taylor Fitzgerald,
Jaden Moore,
Skylar Williams, and
Riley Wickum.
Head Coach
Andrew Rich hit the transfer portal to bring in talent to the Bengals program
Taylor Fitzgerald comes to the Bengals as a Graduate Student from UC Davis
Jaden Moore is a utility from the University of Houston
And
Riley Wickum joins the bullpen coming to the Bengals from CSUN.
On Deck
After the Colorado trip, the Bengals are back home in the gem state taking on Boise State and St. Thomas in Boise, Idaho.
