No dreaded rebuilding year for Boise State softball, which is off to a historic start
In a corporate boardroom or on a softball diamond, sometimes the only way to get a foot in the door is to fake it until you make it.
That’s how Boise State pitcher Hannah Bailey’s career began when she was 8. As all the other children fanned out across the field during a youth league tryout, Bailey confidently strode to the pitching circle as if she owned the place, even though she’d never stepped foot in one.
“I’ve barely left the circle since,” Bailey said with a laugh during practice in the Broncos’ Caven-Williams Indoor Facility on Tuesday. “It’s something I always gravitated toward and the position I’ll always play.”
After leading Boise State to a 5-0 record this season — the best start in program history — it’s safe to say that Bailey has made it. That’s especially true after the Broncos finished last season 20-25.
“We have the fielding, hitting and pitching, and we’ve been putting in the work all fall,” Bailey said. “It’s exciting to see it all come together.”
The Broncos look to continue their winning ways at the Cardinal Invitational, which begins Friday in San Antonio with a doubleheader against Omaha (9 a.m.) and Massachusetts (11:30 a.m.). The event is hosted by the University of Incarnate Word.
Boise State softball coach Justin Shults — who has been on the job only since last June — said he isn’t surprised by his team’s fast start because he gave his players a glimpse the season before it ever began.
“Our practice plans leading up to the season put a lot of pressure on them and showed what it was going to feel like first couple weeks,” Shults said. “We came in hungry, got through the nerves of the first game and then just started playing softball.”
Boise State went 4-0 at the San Diego State season kickoff tournament last week, including a 7-3 win over Stanford. It was the Cardinal’s first loss of the season, and it was another testament to Bailey’s endurance. She pitched the full seven innings, throwing more than 80 pitches just a day removed from throwing more than 70 in a complete-game shutout against Middle Tennessee.
“She has all the skills in the world, and it’s nice to see her taking charge out there,” Shults said. “She lives down in the zone, and she allows our defense to work. For her, it’s not about getting a ton of strikeouts. Her job is to hit her spots, move the ball and trust her defense to make plays.”
Bailey joined the Broncos after transferring from Minnesota following the 2019 season, and she has left her mark on the program. She won a team-high nine games and led the Broncos with a 2.27 ERA while earning second-team All-Mountain West honors last season. Her ERA ranks No. 2 all-time on Boise State’s single-season lists.
The fifth-year senior has thrown complete games in both of her starts and also earned a save this season. She has posted a 1.31 ERA while allowing just nine hits.
“Having a great defense makes it easy to be a pitcher,” Bailey said. “I know they always have my back.”
The Broncos aren’t piling up runs, but they are winning games. They’ve shut out two opponents and are surrendering just 2.2 runs per game. The Broncos’ infielders turned four double plays in a 4-0 win over Middle Tennessee.
That’s music to Shults’ ears, because the defense was his main concern coming into the season.
“Being indoors most of the fall and winter, we hadn’t fielded a lot of ground balls in the dirt,” he said. “So we just preached making the routine plays over and over, and that’s what they’ve done.”
If there’s an area where Shults wants his team to improve moving forward, it’s in the batter’s box. The Broncos are hitting .331 as a team, but as Shults pointed out, they’ve drawn only nine walks while striking out at a high rate, with 31 on the season.
“We have to be more disciplined at the plate,” Shults said. “We’ve got to do a better job of understanding what pitchers are trying to do because we’ve left a lot of runners on base.”
The Broncos are led at the plate by redshirt sophomore Alycia Flores, who is hitting .529 with two home runs and a team-high nine base hits. Sophomore Jordyn Hutchins leads the team with 10 RBIs.
Boise State’s upcoming games
Friday: vs Omaha, 9 a.m.
Friday: vs Massachusetts, 11:30 a.m.
Saturday: vs. UTSA, 11:30 a.m.
Saturday: vs University of the Incarnate Word, 5 p.m.
Sunday: vs. Massachusetts, 9 a.m.
* All games in San Antonio, Texas
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 1:03 PM.
