POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State Bengals (10-3) closed out the Lyman Classic Tournament hosted by Utah Tech with a pair of exciting wins Sunday afternoon. The Bengals first run-ruled UC San Diego 13-5. Afterward, the Bengals defeated the Utah State Aggies in an 11-7 comeback victory.
"It was great to come out and finish the weekend strong," remarked Head Coach Andrew Rich. "We had a great day at the plate and kept pressure on all the time. It took us a little while to break through against Utah State but the at bats late in the game were fantastic."
In game one of the day, the Bengals jumped out early on UCSD going up 6-0 in two innings after a Gracie Smith double.
The Tritons scored two runs in the 2nd to close the gap but the Bengals held the momentum.
After a Camryn McDonald RBI single, the Bengals loaded the bases with two outs. Olivia Robison stepped up to the plate and smashed a grand slam over the left centerfield wall to put the Bengals up 11-2.
Idaho State scored two more runs off of Belle Navarrete's double which proved to be enough runs to close out the 'mercy-rule' win over the tritons.
Marley Goluskin got the start in the circle only allowing two hits through 2.0 innings pitched, striking out four UCSD batters. Kasey Aguinaga came in as relief and in 2.1 innings pitched and Kaliann Scoresby closed out the game for the Bengals in the win.
Game two of the day was set for an exciting contest between Idaho State and Utah State. The USU Aggies were coming into the game 10-3 having scored 10+ runs in their four previous games.
Utah State jumped out early, scoring two runs on the Bengals in the first two innings.
Navarrete cut the lead in half with a solo homerun in the third inning, her first of the season. Ava Brown also came in clutch, hitting her third homerun of the season over the right center wall.
The Utah State offense started rolling in the next two innings, scoring five runs on the Bengals extending their lead to 7-2 heading into the bottom of the 5th inning.
There is no quit to this Bengal team though, and in the bottom of the 5th, the Bengals got to work.
After loading the bases, Kennedy Dudley hit her first RBIs of the game, a single to left center that scored Alyssa Yee and Brown. Gracie Smith advanced on the hit and then took advantage of a throwing error by the Aggies to speed to home, cutting the Aggie lead to 7-5.
Jenna Kearns then came to bat and smashing another single through to left center, Dudley sped to home making it 7-6 USU.
In the next inning, the Bengals had the Aggies on the ropes. ISU loaded the bases and then Gracie Smith drew a walk, scoring the tying run and setting the Bengals up for what was about to occur.
With the bases loaded and facing her 4th pitch, Dudley connected perfectly on the ball, launching the ball over the left center wall for a grand Slam. The 2nd of the day for the Bengals.
"Kennedy put a great swing on one and just so clutch in that moment," continued Rich. "We had been close to breaking through in a couple innings and that swing was exactly what the team needed in that moment." "This team fights to the end every single time. That's what I love about this group, they never give in. They keep chipping away and grinding and they work together to find a way and there's nothing more you can ask for than that as a coach."
With the lead in hand, the Bengal defense took care of three consecutive grounders to close out the game and complete the Bengals' comeback victory.
"Lizzy was fantastic in relief," said Rich. "She came in and was dominant to keep us close and then to kept that going to finish it out"
Tournament Wrapup
The Idaho State Bengals finish the Lyman Classic 4-0 with wins over four different teams.
The Bengals outscored their opponents 38-14 in their 27 innings played. ISU mercy-ruled two of the games and went to extras against the host team Utah Tech.
As a team, ISU hit .393 on the weekend with 44 hits. The Bengals had 15 extra-base hits in the four games and 36 RBIS. Alyssa Yee led the team hitting .571 with eight hits. Ava Brown hit . 400 on the weekend with three homeruns and a team-tying high of six RBIS. Olivia Robison also hit six RBIs on the weekend.
The Benagal pitching staff threw a combined 4.31 ERA, holding their opponents to .327 batting. Lizzy Tommasini earned her first win of the season this weekend. Kasey Aguinaga led the team with three earned wins over six innings pitched.
The Bengal pitchers struck out 13 opposing batters and only threw 10 walks combined
On the basepaths, the Bengals stole nine bases on the weekend. The Bengal defense also turned three double-plays during the tournament, including a game-winning DP against the Utah Tech Trailblazers.
Bengal Bites
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Against the UCSD Tritons, Alyssa Yee successfully stole 4 bases. This sets a new individual single-game record for the Bengals.
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Camryn McDonald is leading the team with a .500 hitting percentage.
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Alyssa Yee leads the Bengals in RBIs with 17 on the year to this point.
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Ava Brown has now hit six homeruns and is tied for 8th all-time in ISU program history with 19.
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Kasey Aguinaga leads the Bengal pitchers with a 5-1 record.
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Megan Meracle leads the team in strikeouts with 25 on the year.
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Through three tournaments, ISU has only allowed five homeruns this year.
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The win over Utah State Breaks a three-game skid to the Aggies and is the first win since the 2022 season.
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ISU is the first team in the Big Sky Conference to reach double-digit wins in 2025.
On Deck
The Bengals head south to Texas this next week to play in the Texas A&M Invitational. The Bengals will get the chance to play against new teams in the program's history. From Feb. 28 - Mar. 2, the Bengals will play five games against Texas Tech, George Washington, Princeton, Texas State and Texas A&M.
