April 12, 2008

Box Score

Pocatello, ID --- Down 5-0 after an inning and a half, the Idaho State bats exploded for a seven-run second inning, and the team never really looked back in sweeping a home doubleheader from the Great Falls Lady Argos by a 13-5 count in game one, and an 8-5 score in game two after a harrowing seventh inning. The sweep ends a three-game losing skid for the Bengals, who have now won six out of their last nine.

The offensive firepower was on display for the Bengals, as they hit an even .500 for the day, going 26-for-52, getting 15 hits in game one in just 5 2/3 innings, and then 11 hits over six innings in game two. However, it looked like a long day at the start of game one.

The Bengals found themselves down 5-0 early in the game. The Lady Argos (10-11) got two runs in the first off an Andrea Coburn when Merissa Jannsen dropped a two-out pop up at second base, allowing two to score, and then after allowing a two-out two-run single in the second, Kandis Clesson came on in relief, and she pitched brilliantly, allowing no runs and only two scratch singles over 4 1/3 innings in picking up her third win of the season.

The Bengals, down 5-0, came back with a vengeance in the bottom of the second. After a single up the middle by Ivy Sessions, Heather Dixon cranked a moonshot over the left centerfield fence for her sixth home run of the season, making it 5-2. Brittany Olsin and Amber Sackett both singled and ended up on second and third when Whitney Chaffe squeezed home Olsin to make it 5-3, with Olsin just sliding in under the tag. Megan Miller, ISU's leading hitter, then tied the game with a single, and another squeeze and a groundout gave ISU a 7-5 lead.

The Bengals added three more in the fifth, manufacturing two of those. After an RBI single by Sackett made it 8-5, Olsin stole home on the back-end of a double-steal to make it 9-5. Pinch hitter Brandi Christopher's single through the right side made it 10-5.

The Bengals ended it in the sixth with a pair of triples. Emily Hu tripled for her first extra base hit of her career to lead the inning off. After scoring on a Christine Schollenberger single, Ivy Sessions singles and got caught between first and second, and although she was out, Schollenberger raced home for a run. Dixon reached on a throwing error, and she came all the way around on a triple by Olsin to end it 13-5.

In the second game, the Bengals were the ones to bolt to a big lead, eventually leading 6-0 after three. ISU got two in the first when Sessions hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Miller, and then Hu scored on the back end of another double steal. In the second, Hu's single to right scored Miller to make it 3-0. In the third, Sessions tripled with one out, and scored on a Dixon single. Kaylie Neal, running for Dixon, stole second and then scored on an inside the park two-run home run by Olsin, who hit a hard sinking, slicing liner to right that Kendra Hapke dove for but just was short on it. The ball rolled to the wall and the speedy Olsin scored standing up.

The Argos got sincle tallies in the fourth and the sixth, but ISU answered with one of their own each time out. Pitcher Natasha Milosevich was cruising along until the seventh, when things got dicey. Merissa Jannsen, who just entered the game at shortstop for ISU, made a superb play in the hole for the first out, but two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Milosevich bounced back to strike out Samantha Schultz, but Jennifer Cox doubled into the right center gap, scoring three and making it an 8-5 game. Milosevich ended any thoughts of the come back by getting Erica McAlmond, who had driven in the first two runs of the game for Great Falls, to ground out harmlessly to short to end it.

Milosevich went the distance, allowing eight hits and five earned runs while striking out five. Suzie Etsell, making her first start of the season, lasted just 2 1/3, allowing eight hits and six runs. Nicole Johnson did a nice job out of the pen, giving up a pair of runs in 3 2/3 innings.

For the Bengals, the offensive highlights abounded, with Miller running her hitting streak to a season-high seven games, going 4-for-7 on the day. However, nothing tops the day Olsin had, as she was a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs batted in, a triples, and home run, and three runs scored. Ivy Sessions was 4-for-6 on the day, and Heather Dixon was 3-for-6.

The Bengals now have 10 days off before ending the season with three doubleheaders, starting on April 22 at Brigham Young at 3:00 pm in Provo, Utah.

NOTES: Clesson's ERA dropped to a team-leading 4.26 ... Miller batting average rose to .357, tops on the team, and Olsin's skyrocketed to .280 ... Miller now has 34 hits, good for seventh on the all-time single season list ... Dixon's three runs batted in give her 48 in her career, just five away from tying the career mark of 53 by Chris Shoemaker from 1978-81.