POCATELLO, Idaho — In a marathon battle that stretched 11 innings, the Idaho State Bengals emerged victorious over the Pacific Tigers, claiming a 10-9 win on a sunny afternoon at Bill Simoni Field.
The Bengals (18-8) displayed resilience and grit, overcoming an early deficit and leveraging clutch performances to seal the hard-fought victory. The game marked the third longest contest in Idaho State team history at 11 innings.
"I'm so proud of the fight in this group.," remarked Head Coach Andrew Rich. There was nothing easy about today and they faced a ton of adversity and attacked it at every spot. To close that one out the way we did was in incredible."
On the Bengals' pitching,
"Kasey and Lizzy threw great in relief today and gave our offense a chance to get us even and eventually win it. Ava had a huge day with a couple homers and some really good swings. A series sweep is always a great thing, no matter what it looks like!"
Pacific jumped to an early lead, scoring five runs in the first two innings off Idaho State starter Kaliann Scoresby. However, the Bengals never stopped fighting, responding with two homeruns from Bengal outfielder Ava Brown. Both two-run bombs, cut the pacfic lead to 5-4 in the third.
Trailing 7-4 heading into the sixth, Idaho State's offense found its rhythm. Kate Hogan led off with a double to left center. Jenna Kearns followed with a fly out to right field. Jaden Moore then pinch-hit for Belle Navarrete and singled to right field, advancing Hogan to third.
In a chaotic sequence, Gracie Smith reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second, while Moore advanced to third. However, Hogan was tagged out at home in a 3b to c to 3b to p rundown.
With two outs, Alyssa Yee delivered a clutch single up the middle, driving in both Moore and Smith to cut the deficit to one. Ava Brown then drew a walk, advancing Yee to second. Olivia Robison followed with a single to right field, allowing Yee to score and tie the game at 7-7. Pacific brought in pitcher Hannah Glad to stop the bleeding, and Kennedy Dudley fouled out to first to end the inning, but the Bengals succeeded in tying the game and giving the Orange and Black new life headed into extra innings
Bullpen Shines in Extra Innings
After Pacific added a run in both the eighth and ninth innings, Idaho State answered each time, forcing the game into extra frames. Relief pitcher Kasey Aguinaga delivered 4.1 innings of scoreless work, keeping the Tigers at bay while the Bengals battled in extras.
In the 11th inning, Gracie Smith doubled to drive in the go-ahead run, putting Idaho State ahead 10-9. Lizzy Tommasini, who pitched the final two innings, closed the door on Pacific to secure the win and improve her record to 4-4.
Key Performers
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Ava Brown: 3-for-5, .600 BA, 1.800 SLG%, 2 home runs, 4 RBIs
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Alyssa Yee: 2-for-5, 3 runs, 2 RBIs
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Jaden Moore: 2-for-2, 1 double, 1 RBI
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Kasey Aguinaga: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 SO
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Lizzy Tommasini: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 SO
Bengal Bites
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Ava Brown now has tied 7th all-time in single season homeruns with 11 on the year. She is just one behind Terah Blackwell and Angelica Cano tied for 6th with 12. The record is held by Vicky Galasso who hit 20 in 2015.
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Brown is now 8th all-time in career homeruns with 24 on her career.
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The Bengals 11 inning game is the 3rd longest in program history. The two longer games came against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado, both losses. The win against Pacific makes it the longest game win in Idaho State history.
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Olivia Robison and Alyssa Yee now are Nos 1 and 2 in the conference in On Base Percentage at .493 and .490 respectively.
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Yee has scored the most runs in the conference with 26 on the year.
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Brown leads the Big Sky in homeruns with 11, 2nd place is Morales of Northern Colorado with six.
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Kasey Aguinaga and Lizzy Tommasini have the two lowest ERAs of the Big Sky with 1.70 and 2.79 respectively.
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Megan Meracle has held opponents to the lowest average in the conference hitting just .228 against her.
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Lizzy now leads the Big Sky with three saves on the year.
Pacific Series Wrapup
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The Bengals end the series againt the Pacific Tigers 3-0 with a series sweep over the West Coast Conference opponent.
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The Bengals hit .290 as a team while the Bengal defense held the Tigers to .222.
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Jaden Moore went a perfect three-for-three pinch hitting this weekend.
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Gracie Smith and Ava Brown had huge weekends for the Bengals offensively. Smith hit .455 with three doubles and home run with a SLG% of 1.000. Smith also had a steal of home on the weekend. Brown hit .417 with five hits and three home runs with five RBIs for a SLG% of 1.167 on the Weekend.
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Lizzy Tommasini dealt for the Bengals in the circle, the Bengal pitcher finished the weekend 2-0 in 10 innings pitched with a dominant 0.70 ERA. Lizzy allowed just four hits and one run while striking out five opposing batters.
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Kasey Aguinaga also picked up a win, throwing a 1.27 ERA.
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As a staff, the Bengals pitched a 2.80 ERA in the trio of wins, holding the Tigers toa .222 batting average. The Bengals struck out 11 batters and allowed four extra-base hits
On Deck
With the win, Idaho State improves to 18-8 on the season and gains momentum heading into conference play. The Bengals will return to action next week against Utah State, followed by a matchup against Saint Mary's. Both games will be played at home at Direct Communications Field at Miller Ranch.
