Saturday, April 9, 2011

Lady Broncos Gear Up for WAC Golf Championship

The Boise State women's golf team has been improving recently, and they'll need to be at their best next weekend as another championship in the Western Athletic Conference is decided.  The Championship will be in Mesa, Arizona Friday through Sunday.

Devon Bridges Becomes 3rd Player in NCAA History With 3 Slams in a Season

Prior to this season, only two collegiate softball players had ever hit three grand slams in a season.  

Better make it three.  Boise State freshman phenom Devon Bridges hit another salami yesterday to key a seven-run inning and complete a Bronco sweep of Louisiana Tech.  It was Bridges' third of the season and she still has plenty of games to go.  She homered with the bases full in the 17th game of the season against Seattle, did it again on May 26 in a victory over Nevada and cleared the bases again this afternoon.


Bridges has now reached base safely in 28 games in a row.  The Broncos head out on the road for an eight-game trip beginning with three against Utah State.

#57 Boise State Wins Again

The Boise State women's tennis team is building momentum for the upcoming Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

The Broncos downed New Mexico State 5-2 this afternoon for their fourth WAC win against no defeats.  Boise State won the doubles points, then spread out for four singles wins against the Aggies.   

                                            Megale keys wins at #1 singles and doubles

Lauren Megale and Marlena Pietzuch are playing well right now, getting an 8-5 win over Isabela Kulaif and Annemieke Witte at No. 1 doubles.  Elyse Edwards and Sonia Klamczynska clinched the point with an 8-6 victory over Manon Sylvain and Jodie Williams.  Megale made it 2-0 after Kulaif withdrew from their match at No. 1 singles; at the time Megale was leading 6-3, 2-1.  Edwards won her match 6-2, 6-3.  Pietzuch clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-3 disposal of Williams.  Morgan Basil added a win at No. 6 singles for the final Bronco win. 

Boise State moves its season record to 14-6 and will take on Nevada in Reno Sunday at noon Mountain Time. 

#57 Boise State 5, New Mexico State 2

DOUBLES
1.  Lauren Megale/Marlena Pietzuch (Boise State) def. Isabela Kulaif/Annemieke Witte (NMSU) 8-5
2. Elyse Edwards/Sonia Klamczynska (Boise State) def. Manon Sylvain/Jodie Williams (NMSU) 8-6
3.  Stephanie Jasper/Sandy Vo (Boise State) def. Ginet Pinero/Ros-Polly Nguyen (NMSU) 8-6

SINGLES
1. Megale (Boise State) def. Kulaif (NMSU) 6-3, 2-1 (retire)
2. Sylvain (NMSU) def. Klamczynska (Boise State) 6-4, 6-3
3. Pinero (NMSU) def. Jasper (Boise State) 6-2, 3-6, 10-8
4. Edwards (Boise State) def. Witte (NMSU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Pietzuch (Boise State) def. Williams (NMSU) 6-0, 6-3
6. Morgan basil  (Boise State) def. Nguyen (NMSU) 6-1, 6-4

Boise State Softball Team Moves Into Tie for First Place

You heard it on this blog first.  With #23 Fresno State's 9-1 softball win over New Mexico State last night and New Mexico State's 10-2 and 9-1 wins over Fresno this afternoon, the WAC race is up for grabs.  Boise State and New Mexico State are now tied for #1 in the conference with 8-1 records with Fresno State a game back at 7-2.  The Broncos swept a doubleheader from Louisiana Tech and are now 8-1.  Fresno State is 8-0 pending the second game of a doubleheader.

Boise State Blanks Louisiana Tech 8-0

Freshman sensation Devon Bridges hit another grand slam to key a seven-run Boise State fifth and Allie Crump had a homer as well.  Aubray Zell moved to 9-1 on the season as she struck out four and didn't walk a batter.


The Lady Broncos are on fire.  With the win, the Broncos are now tied for first with New Mexico State.

Boise State Rocks Louisiana Tech 11-3 in First Game

Boise State has defeated Louisiana Tech 11-3 in the first of a scheduled twin bill at Mountain Cove Field in Boise.

Mackenzie Whyte's solo homer in the first helped the Bronco cause right off the get-go.  In the second, Tazz Weatherly's grounder scored Devon Bridges who had singled to lead off the inning.  Kellie Caplan came up and singled to drive in Kelly Sweeney and then stole a base, putting her in position to score on a single by Holly Burke that Weatherly also scored on. 

See full size image



The Lady Broncos have blown it open in the third with a two-run homer by Christina Capobianco and a solo shot by Sweeney to make it 8-2.  Boise State added a run on Vanessa Alvarez's double down the left field line that scored Allie Crump in the fourth and two runners scored on an error following Caplan's sacrifice in the fifth.  Caplan finished the game a perfect 3-3 with an RBI and a run scored.

Crump allowed just three hits to pick up the victory for Boise State.  The two teams will play a second game shortly.

Boise State Professor Jorcyk Receives Grant to Research Breast Cancer

Boise State associate professor Cheryl Jorcyk has secured a $600,000 grant from the Komen for the Cure Foundation to research breast cancer.

Jorcyk has studied Oncostatin M, a protein that is produced by breast cancer and immune cells that plays a role in inflammation.  With the grant, she will be able to explore the therapeutic effectiveness of an existing antibody against the metastasis of cancer from breast to bone.  Jorcyk believes that the spread of cancer is connected to OSM and that the antibody could block the binding mechanism of OSM.




“It’s extremely exciting to be entrusted with such important resources and the responsibility to produce results,” Jorcyk said. “It is every investigator’s hope that the return on investment will be significant, and this project has the potential to deliver.”

The Komen Foundation hopes that Jorcyk's work will lead to a new treatment product that will better address the complexity of breast cancer.  If Jorcyk is successful, she will be a major contributor to combating the disease. 

“Dr. Jorcyk exemplifies the spirit of Boise State’s research mission, to surpass expectations and define powerful new possibilities,” said Director of Technology Transfer Mary Givens. “The knowledge generated by her research has great promise to impact health and society across the world.”

Boise State Receives Grant to Research Biological Hazards

The money keeps coming in for Boise State.  The Univeristy recently received a grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency in conjunction with the National Science Foundation to research chemical and biological hazards. 

Inanc Senocak and Jodi Mead of Boise State will be conducting the research that will reconstruct and simulate hazards once they have been detected in the atmosphere.  The pair will study how to reduce and control the threat of contamination that could occur to civilians as well as troops in the battlefield.



Senocak has already secured millions in grants for his work in other areas--he is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering.  While working on a postdoctoral fellowship, Senocak used statistical algorithms and models of air pollution to reconstruct how contaminants would disperse in the atmosphere.  Mead, a professor of mathematics at Boise State, assisted Senocak with her expertise in numerical analysis.

Boise State's Nelson Wins Collegiate Hammer Throw at Sun Angel Track Classic

Boise State's Alex Nelson won the hammer throw in the Collegiate Division at the Sun Angel Track Classic in Tempe, Arizona yesterday.  Nelson uncorked a throw of 208-feet, 8-inches on his fourth of six throws at the competition.  Nelson's throw would have finished second and been within a foot of Minnesota's Micah Hegerle, who won the so-called "Premiere Division".



Unfortunately, Nelson's effort represented the only Boise State finish in the top five yesterday.  Action resumes this afternoon in Tempe.