Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
No. 3 Idaho State
Wildcats top Bengals to advance to title game
5/14/2016 3:42:00 AM | Softball
OGDEN – The Wildcats are back in the title game.
Junior right fielder Sara Hingsberger smashed a three-run first-inning home run and sophomore right-hander Kirtlyn Bohling threw a complete game two-hitter as the Weber State University softball team dropped rival Idaho State 6-0 in the Big Sky Conference tournament semifinals at Wildcat Softball Complex.
The Wildcats improved to 36-17 overall with their third straight win and advanced to Saturday's 1:30 p.m. championship game, where they will await the winner of Saturday morning's elimination game between No. 2 seed Sacramento State and No. 3 seed Idaho State. The Hornets and Bengals get underway at 11 a.m., with the winner needing to defeat Weber State twice to claim the title.
Weber State, which through tournament rules found itself in the visiting dugout for the first time in the seven-year history of Wildcat Softball Complex, wasted no time locking focus as Hingsberger, a First Team All-Big Sky Conference selection, blasted a 1-2 pitch over the 225-foot center field fence to put the Wildcats in front 3-0.
The Wildcats put the Bengals down 1-2-3 in the first two innings, with freshman designated player JaeCie Wilson reaching on a single, before 2016 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year Aubrey Whitmer smashed a two-run shot over the fence at center field to give Weber State a 5-0 lead.
Junior left fielder Mackenzi Corta led off the fifth inning with a triple, and cross home plate on a sacrifice fly to center field by sophomore catcher Molly Horne to make it 6-0 and the Wildcats' defense carried it the rest of the way.
Bohling picked up her school-record 19th win of the season, pitching her 16th complete game. The sophomore right-hander held the Bengals' powerful offense, which scored 23 runs in a pair of run-rule victories on the tournament's first day, to just two hits, a third and seventh inning double.
