Bengals bash their way to history in doubleheader sweep of Grizz

POCATELLO — Idaho State softball swept a doubleheader from the University of Montana at home, Friday, putting the Bengals on the doorstep of a conference regular season title. Yet, somehow, that did not even have room on the back burner, with all the history the team made.

With wins No. 30 and 31, the 2025 squad moved to within four of tying a program single-season record. The victory in Game 1 was the 100th for head coach Andrew Rich, second-most in ISU history. Sophomore catcher — and Highland High School alum — Jenna Kearns tied a program record for RBIs in a game with seven.

The Bengals won the first game, 17-8, then followed that up with a 9-4 victory in Game 2 at Miller Ranch Stadium.

But perhaps the biggest achievement of them all was reached by junior centerfielder Ava Brown, who hit three home runs between the two games, giving her 20 on the season. With five games remaining in the regular season, Brown is now tied with Vicky Galasso (2014) and Amanda Fitzsimmons (2013) for the most dingers in a season.

“That pitcher, kinda, had my number all day — I struck out twice against her,” Brown said after the game. “So I just wanted my last at-bat (of the day) to be a bang.”

The bang was loud, and resulted in a ball that carried beyond the 200-foot fence, over the families sitting some 30 or so feet behind that and over the berm that backdrops the field.

Rich said, from his vantage inside the third base coach’s box, the ball appeared to still be rising as it left the field of play.

“That ball was nuked. That was wild,” he said.

“That’s the farthest ball I’ve seen hit in-person, ever,” the coach added. “That ball was launched. … When she squares it up, and is on-time, there’s no telling how far it could go — she’s that strong and that good of a hitter.”

Brown thanked Jesus for keeping her strong through all the trials and tribulations of life and in her softball career.

“I’ve been trying to glorify him through my play,” she said, noting how that mindset has allowed her to play loose.

Her 20th was Brown’s second of the second game Friday, after she’d hit one in the first game.

A two-run second-inning shot from Brown gave ISU some breathing room, 9-6, in the first game, but the star of that win was Kearns.

The 2021 First-Team All-State performer with the Rams has emerged as one of the hottest hitters in the country over the past few week — earning last week’s Big Sky Conference Player of the Week nod.

With two homers, including a first-inning go-ahead grand slam, Kearns drove in seven runs in the first game, tying her for a team record.

She matched Christina Rayner (March 4, 2011) and Ashlyn Ames (March 4, 2017), according to ISU Associate Athletic Director Jon Match.

Rich said after a late-March trip to Sacramento State, Kearns came to him and said she wanted to put in more work and improve her offensive production.

“She went to work. Hard,” Rich said. “She put in the work, she put in the time that is needed to get her swing — she just needed to feel it again. … She’s one of the hottest hitters in the country. That’s not hyperbole, to say that, that’s true.”

With Kearns and second baseman Belle Navarrete hitting well in the bottom of the order, it has added a whole new dynamic to the Big Sky’s most explosive lineup.

Now, as Rich noted, they set up the top of the order — a trio of hitters, in Gracie Smith, Alyssa Yee and Brown — that has struck fear into pitchers all season.

Kearns was one of seven Bengals hitters to knock in at least one run during the game-one victory, Friday. The 30th win of the season was Rich’s 100th as the ISU head coach — he now trails only Julie Wright, who recorded 126 wins between 2011 and 2015.

He was so invested in the game, Rich said, that he didn’t fully embrace the achievement until between the first and second games, when a video tribute, including messages from the players, was played on the scoreboard. Then, he admitted, he took a trip down memory lane, visiting all the milestone wins along the way.

“We’ve come so far in the last four years,” he said. “To be here now, with the field that we have, with the players that we have … it’s awesome. Hopefully there’s a lot more to go.”

Being mentioned alongside the teams of 2013, 2014 and 2015 is “amazing,” he added.

“They set the standard of what this place could be,” Rich said. “We’re trying to match that, and keep building on what they started.”

The ISU record for wins in a season is 35 — set in 2015 — and surpassing that mark this year is “absolutely” the goal.

“We’ll need more than that to get to where we want to get to,” Rich said.

Kasey Aguinaga got the win in game two, pitching all seven innings and improving to 14-5 on the season.

The quest for four more begins Saturday, when ISU hosts the Grizz — their final home game of the season — with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

Asked if her team has any pressure on it, Brown, one of the captains, said a decisive “No”:

“We’ve just got to do what we’ve been doing all season. I feel like, how we play is more than enough.”