Fans that have been out to Miller Ranch Stadium the past few weeks have been fortunate enough to see some amazing offensive numbers put up by the Idaho State softball team.
Those fans that were in attendance for the final regular season home game of the year Wednesday witnessed something that happened just one other time in the two year history of Miller Ranch Stadium — the Bengals were shut out.
Utah Valley starting pitcher Tiffany Mills held the Bengals to four hits while striking out eight as the Wolverines earned a 3-0 victory.
“I felt like we were passive with first pitch strikes and took way too many pitches,” Wright said. “I told the girls after the game that we let Mills get into a rhythm. When a good pitcher can get into a rhythm it is going to be a bad day for the offense.”
Mills was dominant from the get go. Using her full arsenal of pitches, Bengal hitters was kept off guard. When balls were hit the found the gloves of UVU defenders.
The tone for the ISU offense was set in the bottom of the first when the nation’s No. 2 hitter, sophomore catcher Vicky Galasso laced a pitch right back towards Mills. In stride, she snatched the screaming liner and calmly fired to first to complete the double play.
Galasso had the same thing happen in her second at-bat. She finished the game 0-for-3.
“Mills is very good and I have a great deal of respect for that team and how good they are,” Wright said. “Mills ERA is in the low ones and that is some of the best pitching we have seen. She has a pretty good curveball and her change up is good enough to keep you off balance, and every once in a while she will shoot that screwball in. She does a nice job of mixing up her pitches.”
Not to be outdone ISU starter Kelsi Ott was equally as effective.
Ott scattered seven hits, three runs and struck out 10 in the complete game loss.
“I thought Kelsi pitched great,” Wright said. “She was unlucky at times with a high-chopper over Fitzsimmons head. I thought the defense played well. I got after them in the huddle and said if we are going to go down let's go down attacking.”
Utah Valley struck for two runs in the fourth. After a walk and a single to start the inning, Kylee Brinkerhoff singled up the middle to drive home Krystin Jachim from second. Charlee Cisneros had a sacrifice fly to left field to drive in the inning’s second run.
Debra Lovell’s RBI single in the fifth drove home the Wolverines’ final run.
“I am bummed,” senior Amanda Fitzsimmons said of the day’s performance. “But we are not trying to look at today as our last game at home. We are looking at it as an opportunity coming up, and we have to fight to play at home again.”
“Today was definitely disappointing, I don’t think that we have a game at home all year,” junior catcher Terah Blackwell said. “It was definitely tough for us to go out and struggle like that. We need to go out and do better this weekend.”
The loss drops ISU to 26-20. The non-conference loss is disappointing to Wright and the team, but the focus has shifted to this weekend’s series at Sacramento State.
ISU holds a one-game lead over second-place Portland State in the Big Sky standings. If ISU can take two out of three from the Hornets the inaugural Big Sky softball tournament will played at Miller Ranch Stadium.
“These girls respond. They do not like to lose. Now that they have established a pattern of winning, losing kind of stinks.” Wright said. “They are not really excited about losing. They will be ready to practice Thursday and when we get on that plane Friday, we will be ready.”
The Bengals and Hornets play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday in Sacramento.