Broncos Down Utah State to Sweep Series

Sunday, April 18

Boise, Idaho

12:00 p.m. MT

Boise State

16-14, 8-4

Utah State

10-21, 2-10

Utah State

Boise State

4/18/2021 4:54:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Boise State defeated the Aggies 4-2 on Sunday to complete the series sweep and extend win streak to seven straight.

By: Courtesy: Boise State Athletics

BOISE, Idaho - Alison Seng's double with bases loaded and two out brought home the game winning run in the fifth as Boise State defeated Utah State 4-2 on Sunday afternoon. Seng's double broke open a 2-2 tie heading into the bottom of the fifth as Ashlyn Adams and Karlee Johnson crossed the plate on the hit, handing the Broncos the winning two-run advantage.

Coach Maggie Huffaker on Seng's big fifth inning hit, "She is a huge leader for us and so determined, and for her to finally get the payoff is awesome. I'm so really proud of her for keeping that fight and then seeing it through today."

That 🧹🧹🧹 feeling! 🤩

The Broncos take the Aggies 4-2 today and are back again tomorrow at Dona Larsen Park for a doubleheader against Utah Valley! 🥎#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/XXy1eT9djB
— Boise State Softball (@BroncoSportsSB) April 18, 2021

The win over the Aggies clinched the Mountain West Conference series sweep for the Broncos, their second-straight sweep and the third-straight series win in MW play. The victory also extended Boise State's win streak to seven as it improved to 16-14 overall and 8-4 in league, Utah State moved to 10-21 and 2-10.

Huffaker's thoughts on the win streak, "I don't think it's (the win streak) something that we talked about a whole lot because we're just trying to get better every single day. This team is so young and so in-experienced that our goals have had us go back to just kind of learning the game and getting better as a team and trying to climb the ladder. We've focused on our own goals, rather than worrying about outcomes. We can't really control the outcomes, we can only control what we do every day. Now as a result, we're putting ourselves in a better position, that's fantastic."

The Blue and Orange out hit the Aggies nine to four in collecting the win. Both Seng and Adams led the Broncos with two hits each followed by Kelsey Lalor, Bella Rocco, Jordyn Hutchins, Abby Bumcrot and Karlee Johnson with one apiece.

Hannah Bailey entered the game in the fifth inning with the score tied at 2-2. She came in relief of freshman Taylor Caudill who started in the circle and finished with six strikeouts, issued one walk and gave up four hits and two runs. Bailey collected her sixth win of the season as she kept Utah State from scoring in the final three innings. She struck out one, walked one and did not give up any hits or runs.

Utah State opened the scoring with a solo homer down the left field line in the top of the third. Boise State responded in its half of the third with two runs.

After Karlee Johnson walked, Lalor sent a triple down the right field line to bring home Johnson to tie the score. Lalor's fourth triple of the season — all in the last four games — set a new school record for triples in a season. Lalor then came home on a double down the left line by Adams as the Broncos took a 2-1 lead.

Lalor is excited to see how the team has improved, "I'm really, really excited about this week, our team's really come together in the past couple of weeks. Honestly, it is just great to see all the hard work that we've been putting in since September starting to show up and we have a lot of different people contributing, which is awesome."

Utah State answered with a lead-off home run to left center by Kenned Hira in the top of the fourth to tie it up at 2-2.

Boise State took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth after loading the bases. Karlee Johnson opened with a lead-off walk, followed by a single up the middle by Adams. With one out, Rocco reached on a walk to load the bases.

Then with two out and bases loaded, Seng stepped to the plate where with a full count, she doubled to left center bringing home Johnson and Adams for the final runs of the game putting Boise State up 4-2.

Seng on her key at bat in the fifth inning, "In that at bat, I was just thinking that she needed to come to me. She didn't have anywhere to put me, so I was making her bring me my pitch and not trying to chase anything that she was trying to get me out on."

Bailey and the Bronco defense put the game away as they shut down Utah State offensively down the stretch, as the Aggies left one runner stranded in both the sixth and seventh innings.

Boise State will be back in action Monday afternoon when the Broncos host a nonconference doubleheader against Utah Valley out of the Western Athletic Conference at noon.