POCATELLO, Idaho - Sydney Groves crushed a three-run home run in the first inning and the Idaho State pitching staff combined for a strong outing as the Bengals defeated in-state rival Boise State 5-3 on Tuesday afternoon at Miller Ranch Stadium. The win is the first for Idaho State (30-16) over the Broncos (20-26) since 2022 and the first at home during head coach Andrew Rich's tenure.
"That's a great program, and anytime you can find a way to beat your in-state rival is a huge deal," Rich said.
The Bengals wasted no time getting on the board against Boise State. Alyssa Yee led off the bottom of the first with a single to left center, and Camryn McDonald followed with a bunt single to put two on with nobody out. After a Jenna Kearns strikeout, Ava Brown delivered an infield single to short that scored Yee for a 1-0 lead. Groves then drove a 1-0 pitch to deep left field for a three-run homer that blew the game open at 4-0.
"I was really proud of the approach in that first inning," Rich said. "She's a tricky pitcher with a funky motion, a little slower than you're used to with a ton of movement, and to stick to the plan that we had was a really good job."
Yee added to the lead in the second inning, launching a solo home run to deep left field off reliever Kodi Crabtree to push the advantage to 5-0.
Marley Goluskin got the start in the circle for Idaho State and turned in three scoreless innings, scattering two hits while working around three walks.
"I just came out there with a plan of just working on some things, and I think that's what worked well for me," Goluskin said.
Kasey Aguinaga took over in the fourth and earned the win to improve to 13-4 on the season. She allowed two runs on two hits in two innings of work but struck out four batters. Rich pointed to Aguinaga's fifth-inning performance, when the Broncos pushed across two runs on a Skylar Stroh RBI double and a Kate Penberthy RBI double before Aguinaga shut the door with back-to-back strikeouts.
"Kasey had a huge spot with the strikeouts in that fifth inning to get out of it when they had already scored a couple runs and were starting to get back into it," Rich said. "She went right at them and threw her stuff."
Lizzy Tommasini came on to close the final two innings and picked up her third save of the season. She allowed a solo home run to Penberthy in the seventh but retired the final batter to seal the win.
The game carried extra motivation for Groves and Aguinaga, who both transferred to Idaho State from Boise State. Rich said the pair had been looking forward to the matchup since the fall.
"They were fired up," Rich said. "It's always interesting when you have to play your old teammates and your old coaches, but I thought they did a really good job of handling the emotions and staying within themselves."
Groves finished 1-for-2 with three RBIs, a walk and her team-leading 14th home run of the season. Yee went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a home run and an RBI. Brown added an RBI single in the first-inning rally.
Bengal Bites
- Idaho State is now 26-5 this season when scoring first and 19-3 when plating runs in the first inning.
- Groves' 14 home runs lead the team and her 40 RBIs are tops on the roster. She is hitting .326 on the year.
- Yee continues to swing one of the hottest bats in the Big Sky, carrying a .396 batting average with 57 hits, 42 runs scored and 14 stolen bases on the season.
- Aguinaga's four strikeouts give her 60 on the year to go along with her 13-4 record and 2.84 ERA.
- Idaho State is 15-3 this season in games where the Bengals hit two or more home runs.
- The Bengals are 15-4 at home this season.
- Both Groves and Aguinaga transferred to Idaho State from Boise State prior to this season.
Next Up
Idaho State returns to Big Sky Conference play this weekend when it hosts Sacramento State for a three-game series beginning Friday at Miller Ranch Stadium. The series will also feature senior night for the Bengals.
"It's a huge series," Rich said. "These are the spots that we want to be in. Hopefully we get the Orange and Black fans out here. This one's going to go a long way towards who wins the Big Sky regular season."
