OGDEN -- It was a gloomy start for Weber State, but the sun shined on the Wildcats down the stretch.
After suffering a 10-2 drubbing in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against Idaho State, WSU held on for a 6-5 victory to salvage a split on senior day.
"It was frustrating because the (Idaho State) pitchers weren't very good," said WSU coach Tina Johnson. "We talked about it after the first game, made some adjustments and took care of business."
Playing through off-and-on rain, the Wildcats managed just one hit in the opener, and senior third baseman Lyndsey Minnich suffered an ankle injury on a line drive in addition to getting hit by pitches twice at the plate.
After a rain delay early in the second game, Minnich was hit by a pitch for the third time, but the Wildcats (17-24, 6-4 PCSC) made the Bengals pay, as freshman catcher Janel Cunningham parked a 3-run homer over the scoreboard in right-center field in WSU's next at-bat to give WSU an early 3-1 lead. Cunningham finished the game with four RBIs, helping the Wildcats explode for 12 hits in the game.
"Any time you hit the same batter three times, it's obviously intentional," Johnson said. "But that got us fired up and we took over from there. I'm proud of the girls' effort."
Minnich, a native of Kennewick, Wash., got her own personal revenge later in the game, driving in an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning and picking up another RBI on a stand-up double in the bottom of the fourth, despite having her ankle taped up in ice."
"It was a little bit emotional after they had tagged me a few times," Minnich said. "I tried not to get too mad about it, but I still went up there and got two hits after. It was the first time my parents came to see me play on my home field, so I was happy to finish the game that way."
Freshman pitcher Morgan Allaband tossed 52âÑ3 solid innings for the victory and Sarah Clark recovered from her rough outing in the opener to stifle an ISU rally in the bottom of the sixth for her second save of the season.
Shortstop Brooke Silva went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a run and center fielder Erika James-Dixon chipped in three hits and two runs.
In addition to Minnich, Clark and Dixon, Weber State honored two other seniors in first baseman Kami Johnson-Holley and second baseman Symbree Minniear during the intermission.
The Wildcats moved into sole possession of second place in the Pacific Coast Softball Conference Mountain Division with the split, moving ahead of Utah Valley after the Wolverines lost twice on Saturday.
WSU will battle the Bengals in another doubleheader on Monday at Wildcat Field to make up for Friday's postponed games.
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