Despite a rough weekend in Pocatello, Idaho against the Idaho State University Bengals, the Wildcats softball team still holds onto a slim lead in the Big Sky conference. The Wildcats lost their first two conference games of the season Friday but rallied back to maintain their lead by winning the last game Saturday.

The Wildcats traveled north in their first Big Sky conference road trip to play their out of state rivals in front of a relatively large crowd.

“It was pretty intense. There were a lot of people there all game,” junior outfielder Rudi Barrios said, “There were a couple fans trying to yell and get in our heads, but we kept our heads and handled it well.”

In the first game of the three-game series, the Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and went back and forth with the Bengals throughout. The Bengals would ultimately win the game, scoring three two-out runs in the sixth inning.

Despite the Wildcats loosing the first game 5-7, they still hit the ball well. However, that was not the case for their second game Friday. The Wildcats suffered their second fifth-inning loss of the season and only tallied a total of two hits the entire game.

“It just came down to the fact we just did not hit the ball well,” junior first baseman Krystin Kubo said.

The Wildcats bounced back the next day and dominated the Bengals in their only win of the weekend 9-5.

The Wildcats were up 9-1 at the end of the fifth and close to adding another mercy rule victory to those they already have, but the Bengals scored a single run to prevent that. They added on another three runs in the bottom of the seventh before the rally was halted.

“After the second game, we really had to make some serious adjustments for the next game,” Kubo said, “We made our adjustments for the game and executed and hit the ball well. It led to a good team win.”

The win was valued more than most because the team was going through a bit of a skid for the weekend.

“Today’s win was a real character builder for us, a statement to the fight this team has,” Weber State coach Mary Kay Amicone said to the Weber State Sports page.

Although the weekend did not go exactly as the Wildcats planned, they still returned home with a share of the lead in the Big Sky with a 7-2 record in conference. They are currently tied with Idaho State and Sacramento State.

The Wildcats continue conference play at home against their in-state rivals from down south, Southern Utah University. The Thunderbirds are the defending Big Sky Conference tournament champions from last year.