The majority of Big Sky Conference coaches may not agree, but Idaho State’s Andrew Rich has no question in his mind who the Player of the Year should have been — and it wasn’t Sacramento State’s Lafulafu Malepeai.

“One hundred percent, without question,” said Rich when asked if Boise State transfer Sydney Groves should have won the honor. “Obviously, Groves has the home runs, she has the RBI numbers ... She is the most valuable player in the Big Sky because of the presence she has at the plate, the presence she brings to a lineup. You know when she’s coming up, and it helps everyone around her.”

But coaches weren’t allowed to vote for their own players, and Malepeai had an outstanding season for the Hornets as well. She led the conference in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

That doesn’t take anything away from the tremendous year Groves, the 5-foot-11 Meridian native, put together in her only season in Pocatello. Groves led the Big Sky Conference in home runs (18) and runs batted in (58) — while leading her team to the conference regular season championship, ISU’s second in a row and third in four seasons.

She was named the Big Sky Player of the Week after her performance in the winner-take-all series in Montana over the weekend. Groves hit two homers and drove in eight runs over the three games, including a three-run home run to clinch the deciding third game of the series.

While Groves was edged out for player of the year honors, she’s satisfied with her only season as a Bengal — both from a personal and team perspective.

“It was so fulfilling,” Groves said of the Bengals finishing 10-5 in league play, one game ahead of three second-place teams. “I’m really grateful that we were able to do this. And being able to do this with this special group of girls just made it that much better. I have so much faith in these girls and how much skill they bring to the table. There was no question that we were going to walk away with the regular season championship.”

Well, there actually was a question for a minute Saturday afternoon, after the Bengals wasted a 6-3 lead going into the seventh inning and lost the opener of the series, 7-6. That meant all Montana had to do to clinch the regular season title was win one of the two remaining games.

“Right after the first game, you could feel a lot of frustration,” Groves acknowledged. “I think a lot of girls were frustrated with the way the game ended. But we were able to regroup in that 30 minutes we get between game one and game two and we were just, ‘Give it all you have, because you can sleep after this game’s done and bring it all tomorrow.’ “

Give their all they did, winning the second game 6-0 and the third 8-2, to clinch the regular season championship and the right to host next year’s Big Sky Tournament once again.

Groves, who had a terrific career at Boise State, was part of the 2023 Bronco team that won the Mountain West regular season title and reached the 2024 postseason title game, but San Diego State won the conference tournament championship all three of her seasons with the Broncos.

She hit 37 homers in her three years with BSU and set the school season record for runs batted in with 57 her junior year. But despite hitting 10 homers and driving in 36 runs for last year’s BSU squad, Groves was looking for a different experience her senior season.

“I left just because of the culture,” said Groves. “I wanted something different with the culture. I wanted to have fun my senior year. My junior year didn’t go as I had planned or as I had hoped, so I ended up leaving and putting all my eggs in one basket. It turned out being one of the best decisions I could have ever made.”

Rich, who came to ISU after serving as an assistant at Boise State, was already very familiar with Groves from having recruited her out of high school. When it came time for Groves to hit the transfer portal, the Bengals were waiting for her with open arms.

“I knew Coach Rich and the rest of the ISU coaching staff previously,” said Groves. “I wanted to stay home. I mean, three hours is kind of an adjustment, but I’m still in the state of Idaho, so I can’t complain. I wanted to stay at home and I knew what I was getting from these coaches.”

And the ISU coaches knew what they were getting in Groves — a cerebral power hitter with a tremendous mental approach at the plate.

“It definitely depends on the pitcher, but usually I’m looking for a certain pitch, either inside or outside,” Groves said in describing her approach at the plate. “I’m setting myself up best, mentally getting my reps on deck and understanding what I want to do with the barrel and with my body to get to the best place possible. But ultimately, just swing hard and find a barrel is my goal every time I step in there.”

Upon arriving in Pocatello, Groves immediately bonded with Ava Brown, last year’s Big Sky Player of the Year, who established the Idaho State and Big Sky Conference record with 25 home runs last season.

“We’ve been following each other in the lineup for the majority of the year,” Groves said of the Bengal center fielder. “And I feel like we confide in each other so much and just hype each other up. We give each other confidence going to the plate. We feed off each other’s energy.”

While not matching her record-breaking junior year, Brown continued to be a productive weapon in the Bengal lineup, tying teammate Alyssa Yee for the league lead with 48 runs scored, placing third in the Big Sky with 13 homers and tying for second with 45 runs batted in.

With the regular season title in hand, Idaho State now tries to do something it has never done in the history of the program — win the Big Sky postseason tournament and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

ISU will open play at Miller Ranch Stadium on Monday at 2 p.m. against the winner of the Montana-Weber State game earlier in the day. Groves knows from personal experience that winning the regular season title doesn’t guarantee anything. She’s seen all five of the other Big Sky schools each win a game against ISU during their three-game conference series.

“You can’t underestimate anybody,” Groves said when asked what she learned after facing every other Big Sky team in the regular season. “Everybody is coming for us, all the time. Every team in the conference is scrappy. You never know what you’re going to get, so you always have to make sure you’re giving your best effort.”

Groves, a health sciences major who plans to join Rich’s staff next year as a graduate assistant, said she didn’t come to Pocatello with specific productivity numbers in mind, but she knew exactly what was expected of her.

“I just knew my job was to hit the ball far and drive a lot of people in,” she said. “That’s what I did. I’m leading in home runs and runs batted in, so I’d say I achieved my goal.”