Boise State Athletics
Saturday, May 18
Gainesville, Fla.
5:00 PM MT
Boise State
36-15
2
vs
0
Stanford (RV/RV)
33-20
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Stanford
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
0
Boise State
0
0
0
0
2
0
X
2
6
1
Dramatic Fifth Inning Advances Boise State to Championship Sunday
5/18/2019 8:19:00 PM | Softball
Broncos outlast Stanford in 2-0 victory to advance to the final of the Gainesville Regional
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Playing under the lights has rarely brought any positives for the Boise State softball team in the 2019 season. The Broncos came into Saturday's game with a 2-5 record in night games (6 p.m. local time or later), and facing an elimination game against Stanford.
The Blue and Orange wound up on top of a dramatic fifth inning which could have swung the game in favor of either team. A 2-0 victory at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium advances Boise State (36-15) to Championship Sunday of the Gainesville Regional. The team will be met by host and fifth-seeded Florida at 10 a.m. MT, on a to-be-determined network.
"This is really awesome and this is another piece of history for these guys — we get to play on Championship Sunday," said head coach Maggie Livreri. "The first game of the day obviously didn't go the way we wanted it to. I'm really, really proud of how resilient we were and our desire to keep playing. I'm incredibly proud of Kelsey (Broadus) for her determination and staying with it. She did great."
In order to win the region, Boise State will have to win back-to-back games against the Gators.
A Mountain West team has not advanced to Championship Sunday since San Diego State accomplished the feat at the Los Angeles Regional in 2015. With tonight's win, the Broncos become the 10th team in conference history to advance to a Regional Final.
Stanford (33-20) nearly took the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to an error in the outfield. Teaghan Cowles singled into the right field, and Ashlyn Adams was unable to field the bounce which allowed the ball to roll to the wall. Cowles rounded the base paths in an attempt to score on the play, but the relay from Adams to Serena Huchingson, through Karlee Johnson at second, was in time to tag Cowles out in front of the plate.
Despite there being two outs in the inning, Johnson took advantage of the scoring position with aggressive base running. She sprinted home on a single up the middle by Kora Wade — the throw from center fielder was in time, but Johnson was able to slide just past the reach of catcher Montana Dixon. Still not safely across the plate, Johnson was able to reach back and touch home plate and get Boise State on the board.
On the next at-bat, Wade was able to sprint in from second on a single up the right side from Rebekah Cervantes. Stanford's second baseman had to dive in order to trap the ball, but was unable to make a throw to the plate to try and stop Wade.
High-pressure situations would continue for Boise State into the seventh inning. Down to their final out, Stanford was able to get the tying run to the plate. Having already pitched 13.2 innings without giving up an earned run, pitcher Kelsey Broadus continued her dominant weekend by inducing a groundout to Bradie Fillmore at third to end the game.
Broadus ended the night with three strikeouts, and spread four hits to keep Stanford off the scoreboard. The left-hander has yet to allow an earned run in the NCAA Tournament this season.
"I think towards the end of the season I've gotten better at not showing my emotion," Broadus said. "That was my big goal that I wanted to accomplish this season. I didn't want anyone to know how I feel, and I think today was a great example of my improvement over the season."
The Blue and Orange wound up on top of a dramatic fifth inning which could have swung the game in favor of either team. A 2-0 victory at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium advances Boise State (36-15) to Championship Sunday of the Gainesville Regional. The team will be met by host and fifth-seeded Florida at 10 a.m. MT, on a to-be-determined network.
"This is really awesome and this is another piece of history for these guys — we get to play on Championship Sunday," said head coach Maggie Livreri. "The first game of the day obviously didn't go the way we wanted it to. I'm really, really proud of how resilient we were and our desire to keep playing. I'm incredibly proud of Kelsey (Broadus) for her determination and staying with it. She did great."
In order to win the region, Boise State will have to win back-to-back games against the Gators.
A Mountain West team has not advanced to Championship Sunday since San Diego State accomplished the feat at the Los Angeles Regional in 2015. With tonight's win, the Broncos become the 10th team in conference history to advance to a Regional Final.
Stanford (33-20) nearly took the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to an error in the outfield. Teaghan Cowles singled into the right field, and Ashlyn Adams was unable to field the bounce which allowed the ball to roll to the wall. Cowles rounded the base paths in an attempt to score on the play, but the relay from Adams to Serena Huchingson, through Karlee Johnson at second, was in time to tag Cowles out in front of the plate.
Johnson was involved in another game-changing play in the bottom half of the inning. After reaching base on a hit by pitch, the junior was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Huchingson.😳😳😳#NCAASoftball | @BroncoSportsSB pic.twitter.com/OH6RAQwZVf
— NCAA Softball (@NCAAsoftball) May 19, 2019
Despite there being two outs in the inning, Johnson took advantage of the scoring position with aggressive base running. She sprinted home on a single up the middle by Kora Wade — the throw from center fielder was in time, but Johnson was able to slide just past the reach of catcher Montana Dixon. Still not safely across the plate, Johnson was able to reach back and touch home plate and get Boise State on the board.
On the next at-bat, Wade was able to sprint in from second on a single up the right side from Rebekah Cervantes. Stanford's second baseman had to dive in order to trap the ball, but was unable to make a throw to the plate to try and stop Wade.
The Broncos would add two more singles in the inning, eventually loading the bases. With two outs already in the inning, there wasn't enough room for additional runs to get across the plate.The slide is...SAFE! @BroncoSportsSB takes the lead over Stanford!#BleedBlue | #NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/7aCn9tSKil
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) May 19, 2019
High-pressure situations would continue for Boise State into the seventh inning. Down to their final out, Stanford was able to get the tying run to the plate. Having already pitched 13.2 innings without giving up an earned run, pitcher Kelsey Broadus continued her dominant weekend by inducing a groundout to Bradie Fillmore at third to end the game.
Broadus ended the night with three strikeouts, and spread four hits to keep Stanford off the scoreboard. The left-hander has yet to allow an earned run in the NCAA Tournament this season.
M3 | Kelsey gets the last batter swinging!
— Boise State Softball (@BroncoSportsSB) May 18, 2019
Cardinal get two hits in the top of the third, but they strand two runners in the inning as @KelseyRene1 gets the Broncos out of the inning.
Due 🐴 @aliseng02, @koraawadee, @_rebekahlynn #BleedBlue | #NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/ZsGXXY2L0U
"I think towards the end of the season I've gotten better at not showing my emotion," Broadus said. "That was my big goal that I wanted to accomplish this season. I didn't want anyone to know how I feel, and I think today was a great example of my improvement over the season."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Broadus, Kelsey (15-6)
L: Millar, M. (0-3)
Batting:
RBI: Wade, Kora 1 ; Cervantes, Rebekah 1
SH: Huchingson, Serena 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wade, Kora 1 ; Johnson, Karlee 1
HBP: Johnson, Karlee 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
P
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballUTIL
/ Softball
C/1B
/ Softball
INF/OF
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