Idaho State’s Marley Goluskin tosses two pitching gems to lead Bengals to Big Sky regular-season title

POCATELLO – When the Idaho State softball team needed a big performance in the circle, pitcher Marley Goluskin not only delivered, she did it twice.

The Bengals won the Big Sky Conference regular-season championship this past weekend as Goluskin tossed back-to-back complete games against Montana to clinch the series and the conference title.

With the regular season title, ISU earns the top seed and will host the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

Goluskin threw 129 pitches in Sunday’s 8-2 win after finishing with 116 pitches on Saturday in a 6-0 shutout.

“She gutted it out,” coach Andrew Rich said in a statement. “That was the first time she’s gone back-to-back days the entire season. Those hitters were seeing her seven, eight at-bats over two days. The zone was really tight today, but she battled through it, never once flinched. Every time you’d ask her how she was doing: ‘I’m good, ready to go.’ She gives you a lot of confidence to send her out there.”

Goluskin, who improved to 11-4 on the season, finished 2-0 with a shutout and a two-run complete game over the final two games.

The Bengals (34-18 overall, 10-5 Big Sky) will host the Big Sky tournament beginning May 4 and have a bye in the first round.