But they exited as the league’s best hitters with everything on the line.

“Our offensive power has blossomed,” the ESPN+ broadcast relayed as something head coach Kristin Delahoussaye said characterizes her team.

Thursday morning’s rally to beat Sacramento State started a rolling stone that saw the No. 3 Wildcats outhit No. 1 Idaho State 36-19 over the next three contests to close WSU’s stay at the Northern Colorado-hosted tournament.

The Wildcats capped the hit parade with two big swings to finally put away the top-seed Bengals, winning 10-4 on Saturday evening and sending the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.

Greg Merrill, for WSU Athletics

Olivia Birkinshaw crushed a no-doubt, sky-high, three-run homer to left field — with an emphatic bat flip to put some flair on it — to give WSU a 9-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Lefty Emma Bingham followed on the next pitch, lining a solo shot over the centerfield fence for the 10-4 score.

Mariyah Delgado and Jordan McMahon capped the 17-hit game but didn’t come around to score, leaving Jayci Finch three outs from punching WSU’s dance card.

Finch pitched around two singles with a strikeout, by cleaning up a grounder to the circle, and by inducing an infield popout to Sadie Kirk at second, sending the freshman phenom sprinting into a screaming rush of Wildcats streaming out of the dugout.

After previously suffering a well-contested, three-game sweep against the Bengals in the regular season (the cumulative score of that series was 14-8 in ISU’s favor), Weber State went 2-1 against the regular-season champs this week with a combined score of 17-9.

Idaho State, which went 14-1 in regular-season league play, was 36-16 overall after beating Northern Colorado to emerge from the one-loss side of the tournament bracket Friday evening. Saturday, Idaho State bested Weber 3-2 in Saturday’s first game to force the if-necessary championship rematch, reminding everyone that it was the Bengals’ tournament to lose.

Greg Merrill, for WSU Athletics

“We just kind of talked through some of the fears and some of the things we were a little bit worried about so we could get those off our chests and then, what do you have to lose?” Delahoussaye said about the talk between games in a postgame interview on ESPN+. “Go out and play a good softball game.”

Finch, Brooke Merrill and Cali McCraw each claimed wins in the circle during the run.

“They just didn’t want to lose. They wanted to be champions, and they chose to go out and do it,” Delahoussaye said. “You can try to give me credit but it was all these guys, they did a great job.”

Birkinshaw was 3 for 3 with five RBIs in the title-winner. She earned tournament MVP honors by batting 8 for 16 (.500) with nine RBIs, eight runs scored, three home runs, one triple and one double in five games.

WSU is now 28-30 for the season and went 12-8 against Big Sky opponents.

WEBER STATE 10, IDAHO STATE 4

Greg Merrill, for WSU Athletics

Though Idaho State boasted Big Sky pitcher of the year Kasey Aguinaga, it was freshman Megan Meracle who had Weber State’s number Saturday. After Meracle threw a complete-game win to take the first game Saturday, Idaho State stuck with the hot hand in the rematch.

A Gracie Smith solo shot against WSU’s Brooke Merrill — her second first-inning homer of the day — gave ISU a brief lead but Birkinshaw laced a two-RBI triple down the left-field line in the bottom half of the inning for a 2-1 lead.

Singles from Birkinshaw, Tori Rey and Eva Richardson pressured Meracle in the fourth inning, but ISU survived. Delgado scored Birkinshaw on a sacrifice fly and the Bengals turned to the lefty Aguinaga, who emphatically struck out McMahon and Riley Whalen on three pitches each to snuff out a potential game-changing rally.

A missed opportunity for Weber State, but a short-lived escape for Idaho State. The sticks for the Bat ‘Cats started booming and Aguinaga couldn’t stop it in the bottom of the fifth. Singles from Taegan Smith and Kirk led to loaded bases when Birkinshaw drew a one-out walk.

Pinch-hitting freshman Apollonia Maldonado came through, singling to right field to score Smith. With two outs, sophomore Mariyah Delgado, anchoring first base during this tournament, did even more. Delgado punched a full-count pitch through the 5-6 hole to score Kirk and Birkinshaw for a 6-2 lead.

Greg Merrill, for WSU Athletics

WSU couldn’t quite put away the usually powerful-hitting Bengals just yet. ISU finally got to Weber pitcher Cali McCraw in her fourth inning of relief; a Camryn McDonald single set up sophomore Jenna Kearns to reach out and poke a slicing homer over the left-center fence to cut it to 6-4.

But the Bengals were out of answers in the circle. ISU handed the ball to Lizzy Tommasini for the sixth and Kirk got things going with a single up the middle.

Kirk was as great as she’s been all season during the tournament, finishing 10 for 17 (.588) with four RBIs, six runs scored, a home run and a double in five games.

Abby Grundy drew a walk in five pitches, setting up Birkinshaw for her moon shot and Bingham’s solo follow.

IDAHO STATE 3, WEBER STATE 2

In Saturday’s first game, a noon first pitch, Meracle ran her pitching record to 8-1 for the season with a six-hit, nine-strikeout complete game for Idaho State.

Greg Merrill, for WSU Athletics

The Bengals took a 1-0 lead through four innings thanks to a Gracie Smith solo homer in the first off McCraw.

Birkinshaw pried off the lid in the top of the fifth, leading off with a double and scoring on a Richardson sacrifice fly. Delgado followed with a solo homer to left field, suddenly flipping a one-hit shutout into a 2-1 WSU lead.

But ISU grabbed the lead right back. With Finch pitching, Kate Hogan led off with a single, advanced on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a throwing error against Richardson behind the plate on another bunt attempt.

A sacrifice fly added a second unearned run against Finch and ISU had the margin it needed at 3-2.