Weber State University Athletics
Friday, April 1
Pocatello, ID
1:00 PM
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Idaho State
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Photo by: Idaho State Athletics
Wildcats Win Conference Openers, Clinch Season Series Against Bengals
4/1/2022 8:24:00 PM | Softball
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Weber State Wildcat softball team opened up its Big Sky Conference season with 4-2 and 5-4 victories over Idaho State on Friday.
The first four innings were an ace off between Arissa Henderson and the defending Big Sky Pitcher of the Week, Haley Rainey. Neither pitcher allowed any runs through the first four innings despite allowing runners on base and getting into a couple jams. Things cracked open in the fifth inning after Mia Rushton and Faith Hoe reached base, Chloe Camarero singled to the outfield which brought both runners home and gave the Cats a 2-0 lead. Lauren Hoe stepped to the plate and cracked a ball into the ISU outfield that brought Camarero home and extended the Wildcat lead to three runs.
The Bengals went scoreless in their half of the fifth inning, but the Cats struck again in the top of the sixth. The inning started with another Rushton hit, followed by a Faith Hoe double down the line to score Rushton and cap off the WSU scoring for the game.
ISU got a couple of runs back in the bottom of the sixth on a home run to make it 4-2, but Mariah Ramirez, who entered the circle for the Cats in the fifth inning, locked things down from there. Despite allowing a lead off runner in the seventh inning, Ramirez recorded outs on the next three batters and WSU recorded a big conference opening win.
There was a quick turnaround between games one and two for Friday's doubleheader. Amanda Sink got the start in the circle for the Wildcats in the second game and the Bengals jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Sink and the Wildcat defense went to work and held Idaho State scoreless until the bottom of the seventh.
In the third inning, Faith Hoe singled with two outs and nobody on which brought up the freshman phenom Mika Chong. Chong hit a towering, wall-scraping home run to tie the ball game up at two runs.
The scoreboard stayed quiet until the top of the sixth when the Wildcat bats went back to work. Chong, who went 3-4 with three RBI on the day, singled to start things out, then a Camarero double brought the runner home to break the tie and give WSU a one-run lead. ISU couldn't answer in the sixth.
In the top of the seventh with a one-run lead, Henderson drew a lead off walk, and the runner advanced to second on a Makayla Donahoo groundout. Faith Hoe came up and hit a laser into the outfield that scored the runner from second, then Hoe came around to score when who else but Mika Chong drove her in.
With a 5-2 lead, Sink came in to try to close out a complete game effort. Two Bengals crossed the plate to slash the deficit to a single run, but with a runner on first and two outs, Sink got the lazy fly ball that she needed to win the game and stay undefeated on the season.
The wins improve Weber State's record to 24-8 (2-0) on the year and clinch the season series against the Bengals.
NOTABLES
"I was really happy to get two wins today. They're a really tough team, so tomorrow we just want to come back and make sure that we come at them right away and have a good start. The two wins today were huge and it was a good momentum booster for the conference season. I feel like out of conference play is all fun and games. We're working to get to this moment and today we're seeing where we are. Are we ready to go? I think we were." – Faith Hoe
"I thought it was great competition. We did a lot of good things. Idaho State is super competitive, super well coached and they're a very competitive team. I'm excited about the way we started." – Mary Kay Amicone
UP NEXT
Weber State finishes up the season series with ISU on Saturday at Miller Ranch Stadium. The game will start at 12:00 and can be seen on ESPN+.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State softball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
The first four innings were an ace off between Arissa Henderson and the defending Big Sky Pitcher of the Week, Haley Rainey. Neither pitcher allowed any runs through the first four innings despite allowing runners on base and getting into a couple jams. Things cracked open in the fifth inning after Mia Rushton and Faith Hoe reached base, Chloe Camarero singled to the outfield which brought both runners home and gave the Cats a 2-0 lead. Lauren Hoe stepped to the plate and cracked a ball into the ISU outfield that brought Camarero home and extended the Wildcat lead to three runs.
The Bengals went scoreless in their half of the fifth inning, but the Cats struck again in the top of the sixth. The inning started with another Rushton hit, followed by a Faith Hoe double down the line to score Rushton and cap off the WSU scoring for the game.
ISU got a couple of runs back in the bottom of the sixth on a home run to make it 4-2, but Mariah Ramirez, who entered the circle for the Cats in the fifth inning, locked things down from there. Despite allowing a lead off runner in the seventh inning, Ramirez recorded outs on the next three batters and WSU recorded a big conference opening win.
There was a quick turnaround between games one and two for Friday's doubleheader. Amanda Sink got the start in the circle for the Wildcats in the second game and the Bengals jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Sink and the Wildcat defense went to work and held Idaho State scoreless until the bottom of the seventh.
In the third inning, Faith Hoe singled with two outs and nobody on which brought up the freshman phenom Mika Chong. Chong hit a towering, wall-scraping home run to tie the ball game up at two runs.
The scoreboard stayed quiet until the top of the sixth when the Wildcat bats went back to work. Chong, who went 3-4 with three RBI on the day, singled to start things out, then a Camarero double brought the runner home to break the tie and give WSU a one-run lead. ISU couldn't answer in the sixth.
In the top of the seventh with a one-run lead, Henderson drew a lead off walk, and the runner advanced to second on a Makayla Donahoo groundout. Faith Hoe came up and hit a laser into the outfield that scored the runner from second, then Hoe came around to score when who else but Mika Chong drove her in.
With a 5-2 lead, Sink came in to try to close out a complete game effort. Two Bengals crossed the plate to slash the deficit to a single run, but with a runner on first and two outs, Sink got the lazy fly ball that she needed to win the game and stay undefeated on the season.
The wins improve Weber State's record to 24-8 (2-0) on the year and clinch the season series against the Bengals.
NOTABLES
- Henderson got the win in the first game of the doubleheader to improve her individual record to 9-1. Sink's win in the second game pushes her record to an unblemished 7-0.
- Faith Hoe is 7-15 in the last four games, including two doubles and six runs scored.
- In Chong's last two games played, she has gone 4-5 with two home runs, five RBI, and two runs scored.
- This is the sixth consecutive season that WSU has won the series between the two schools
"I was really happy to get two wins today. They're a really tough team, so tomorrow we just want to come back and make sure that we come at them right away and have a good start. The two wins today were huge and it was a good momentum booster for the conference season. I feel like out of conference play is all fun and games. We're working to get to this moment and today we're seeing where we are. Are we ready to go? I think we were." – Faith Hoe
"I thought it was great competition. We did a lot of good things. Idaho State is super competitive, super well coached and they're a very competitive team. I'm excited about the way we started." – Mary Kay Amicone
UP NEXT
Weber State finishes up the season series with ISU on Saturday at Miller Ranch Stadium. The game will start at 12:00 and can be seen on ESPN+.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Make sure to follow Weber State softball on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date with everything happening with the Wildcats.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Henderson, Arissa (9-1)
L: Haley Rainey (9-5)
Batting:
2B: Hoe, Faith 1 ; Ruhl, Emily 1
RBI: Hoe, Faith 1 ; Camarero, Chloe 2 ; Hoe, Lauren 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hoe, Faith 1 ; Camarero, Chloe 1 ; Rushton, Mia 2
SB: Hoe, Faith 1 ; Rushton, Mia 1
CS: Whiting, Katelyn 1
HBP: Camarero, Chloe 1
Batting:
2B: Angelica Cano 1
HR: Skylar Sethman 1
RBI: Skylar Sethman 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Gracie Smith 1 ; Skylar Sethman 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
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2
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2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
MI
/ SoftballP/1B
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballOF
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