WSU catcher Apple Maldonado homered and drove in three runs while Taegan Smith hit 3 for 4 with a home run. The Wildcats trailed 6-0 early but rallied for the win.

Weber State finishes the regular season with a 14-40 record and, having gone 4-11 in the Big Sky, the defending Big Sky tournament champions enter the conference postseason as the No. 5 seed, avoiding last-place sixth by beating No. 6 Portland State 2-1 in their series three weeks ago.

WSU struggled with pitching health and consistency, ultimately giving up an average-against of .349 and allowing a whopping 83 home runs in 54 games.

The regular-season title went down to the final day Sunday with a rubber match between Idaho State and Montana, a winner-take-all tilt. The Bengals repeated as regular-season champions with an 8-2 win, denying the Griz their first league title.

That gives Idaho State the No. 1 seed again and hosting rights to next year’s tournament (for the third consecutive year). Meanwhile, Montana fell to a three-way tie for second place and lost all tiebreakers, landing the No. 4 seed.

That means Montana and Weber State will open the Big Sky tournament with a first-round matchup in the double-elimination bracket, set for 9 a.m. Monday, May 4.

Scheduled for 11:30 a.m., No. 3 Sacramento State and No. 6 Portland State will tangle. The Montana/WSU winner plays No. 1 Idaho State at 2 p.m. and the Sac State/PSU winner faces No. 2 Northern Colorado at 4:30 p.m.

The bracket continues Tuesday and Wednesday, leading to a Thursday championship game at noon (an if-needed game would follow).

The tournament is the last for Sacramento State as the Hornets are headed to the Big West. But the Big Sky expands to a seven-team softball league in 2027 with the additions of Southern Utah and Utah Tech.

BIG SKY AWARDS

The Big Sky announced season-end awards Thursday and outfielder Jordan McMahon was the lone Weber State player to be voted to a team, landing on the Second Team. Jordan Hart (as a catcher), Apple Maldonado (first base) and Sadie Kirk (second base) are honorable mentions.

Sacramento State’s Lafulafu Malepeai was named the league’s player of the year, batting .405 with 15 home runs.

Idaho State’s Marley Goluskin is pitcher of the year with an 11-4 record, 77 strikeouts in 20 appearances, and an average-against of .249.

Montana’s Kailee Mejia was voted freshman of the year, batting .410 with a perfect fielding percentage at first base.

Carah Sweet (Montana) and Madi Mendoza (Sacramento State) shared newcomer of the year honors, and Andrew Rich (Idaho State) and Stef Ewing (Montana) shared the coach of the year designation.

WSU STAT LEADERS

Batting average: Jordan McMahon .399, Sadie Kirk .368, Apple Maldonado .346

RBIs: Maldonado 42, Kirk 16, Taegan Smith 16, Abby Grundy 16

Home runs: Maldonado 8, Emma Bingham 5, Abby Grundy 4

Runs scored: McMahon 33, Smith 28, Grundy 24

Walks: Grundy 19, Maldonado 16, Mariyah Delgado 16

Pitching wins: Cali McCraw 6, Kendall Freidinger 4

ERA: Freidinger 5.82, RJ Parra 5.86, McCraw 5.96

Strikeouts: Freidinger 38, McCraw 31