Idaho State University secured its second consecutive Big Sky Conference regular season softball championship with an 8-2 victory over Montana on April 26. The game took place at Grizzly SB Field in Missoula, Montana.
The win gives Idaho State the top seed and home field advantage for the upcoming Big Sky Conference Tournament in Pocatello. Head coach Andrew Rich said, “Our team played great today, all phases of the game, handled some emotion. They took care of business and did what we needed to do. Game one could have been the series, that could have been it. But the leadership, the people who have been here a long time, got together and said ‘we win series, that’s what we do.’ And we got right back into it.”
Sydney Groves hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to help secure the victory. Marley Goluskin pitched a complete game for her second straight day on the mound this weekend. Goluskin threw 129 pitches Sunday after pitching 116 on Saturday.
Rich praised Goluskin’s effort: “She gutted it out,” he said. “That was the first time she’s gone back-to-back days the entire season… The zone was really tight today, but she battled through it, never once flinched.” He also highlighted key defensive plays by Belle Navarrete and offensive contributions from Jenna Kearns and Kennedy Dudley.
Groves described her approach at bat: “First pitch, I was going no matter what… In my previous three at-bats I had at least two first-pitch strikes… I’m just super grateful, just really happy to be here and get it done,” she said.
With this win Idaho State finished their regular season with a record of 34-18 overall and 10-5 in conference play. The Bengals won every conference series during their campaign without sweeping any team but consistently taking two out of three games each time.
Looking ahead to next week’s tournament as hosts and top seed Rich said: “We have an experienced group that knows what the tournament feels like… We need to be ourselves and play Idaho State softball and stay within ourselves; that’s what’s gonna get us over the hump.”
