Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Idaho State
Wildcats top Bengals twice as Amicone wins 600th
4/17/2016 2:14:00 AM | Softball
OGDEN – It wasn't particularly pretty, but the Wildcats got the job done.
Senior third baseman Alyson Kulp was 6-for-7 at the plate, scoring two runs and driving in two others, to help key the Weber State University softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Idaho State on Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Softball Field. The Wildcats sported pink uniform tops for the doubleheader as a part of the team's annual Live Pink, Bleed Purple commitment to raise awareness for breast cancer.
The two wins pushed the Wildcats to 9-2 in Big Sky play and 27-14 overall, as Weber State coach Mary Kay Amicone captured her 600th, followed by her 601st, career collegiate coaching victory.
Amicone is 601-233-2, a career winning percentage of 71.9 percent, in 15 seasons as a collegiate head coach. She is 87-58 (26-18 Big Sky) in her third season at Weber State.
“I loved our competitiveness today,” Amicone said. “I admire the fight and grit that we played with. We had better offensive approaches, and scored throughout the games today. Our pitching staff did a nic job of working together for the two wins.
“People want to talk about the number of wins in my career, and I do appreciate that, but that success shouldn't be attributed to me alone. I've been fortunate to have had many great players and assistant coaches along the way who have worked hard, and this milestone should be shared with every one of them. I want to say thanks to all that have been on this journey with me.”
Weber State opened the first game with a pair of first-inning runs, with sophomore designated player Molly Horne pushing the Wildcats up 1-0 with an RBI single down the right field line, and the senior shortstop Aubrey Whitmer made it 2-0 when she scored on a fielding error by the Bengals shortstop.
The lead would stand until the sixth, when the Bengals led off with a triple and home run to tie the game at 2-2, and then slipped ahead 3-2 on sacrifice fly to left field.
Instead of reeling from the Bengals' punch, the Wildcats responding with their own, bringing five runs across the plate in the bottom half of the inning to take a 7-3 lead.
Horne singled down the right line, and the Wildcats regained the lead two batters later when junior catcher KyRae Kogianes put a perfectly placed single into center field to put Weber State in front 4-3.
Senior first baseman Krystin Kubo singled down the left field line, forcing the Bengals to make a pitching change, and sophomore second baseman McKinley Brinkerhoff hit an RBI single to left field to make it 5-3, followed by a sacrifice RBI by junior outfielder Mackenzi Corta, with Kulp blasting a double to center field to bring in the fifth run off the inning and put the Wildcats up 7-3, and WSU quickly finished off the Bengals in the seventh.
With the series split at 1-1, the decisive third game of the series turned out to be a worthy prize fight between two Big Sky Conference title contenders.
Weber State again opened the contest with two first-inning runs, scoring the first on Whitmer's sac fly and the second on sac bunt by Horne.
Idaho State tied things up at 2-2 on a two-run homer by Maddy Hickman, but once again the Wildcats answered the bell in the bottom of the inning.
Corta and Kulp both singled, and then moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by freshman outfielder JaeCie Wilson. Corta gave the Wildcats back the 3-2 lead on an illegal pitch, and Kulp made it 4-2 on a wild pitch.
The Bengals cut it back to a one-run lead in the fourth, and again the Wildcats pushed it back to two runs on Corta's RBI triple to left center.
Idaho State loaded the bases with no outs to lead off the fifth, but Weber State locked down and escaped the inning with only one run allowed thanks to strikeout by sophomore right-hander Kirtlyn Bohling and consecutive force outs at home plate.
The Wildcats pushed their lead back to two runs after a Brinkerhoff Single and Kulp hit an RBI single to her, making it 6-4.
That two run lead would be crucial as the Bengals again closed within a single run on a pair of two-out hits, before Brinkerhoff ended the game on a popup.
Bohling improve to 16-5 in the circle this season, tying Weber State's single-season record for pitching wins, held since 2012 by former Wildcat Sarah Clark.
Weber State will return to the road for four games next week, starting with a single game on Wednesday against in-state rival Utah State in Logan, before the Wildcats resume Big Sky Conference play at North Dakota on Friday and Saturday.
