BOISE – With all eyes turned on this weekend’s conference showdown against San Diego State, some could have forgotten about Boise State’s Wednesday afternoon contest with Idaho State at Dona Larsen Park.
The Broncos surely didn’t forget.
Boise State scored runs in all four innings the Broncos swung the bat, rallying to take down the Bengals in an 11-0 four and a half inning run-rule victory.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’re taking it one game at a time,” Boise State coach Justin Shults said. “We have a huge weekend coming up with San Diego State but we have to play good softball. We’re setting the tone to be consistent at doing that so I’m proud of the team.”
Kelsey Hall got things started in the first inning with a liner double to the right field that brought Serena Huchingson around to give the Broncos an early 1-0 lead over the Bengals.
The Broncos continued that momentum in the second with a bases loaded wild pitch to score Sydney Groves before Mykenzie Hanna would rip a double towards right field to score both Abby Bumcrot and Autumn Bennett.
Huchingson continued the offensive success with a home run off the right foul pole to bring around Hanna to score and give Boise State a 6-0 lead.
“It was awesome to see we scored every inning from the beginning,” Hall said. “I think just continuing that pattern will help us be really successful against a really good team.”
Hall came up clutch again in the bottom of the third with a two-run double poked down the right field line score Bumcrot and Bennett and extend the Broncos lead to 9-0. Ashlyn Whalen closed the door in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run bomb over the left field scoreboard to make things 11-0.
Wednesday’s contest came to a close when Taylor Caudill came in to mow down the final Bengals in the top of the fifth with two strikeouts. Lindsey Walljasper started the game inside the circle for Boise State and gave up no runs in four innings pitched.
“At the end of the day Boise State softball is a team that you want to see,” Hall said.
Next up the Broncos will have their most important series to date, hosting San Diego State in a conference dual with a chance for Boise State to clinch first place of the Mountain West with two wins over the Aztecs in the three-game set.
The games will start on Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. while Sunday’s contest will start at noon from Dona Larsen Park.
Interviews from Justin Shults and Kelsey Hall:
