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Weber State's Emma Bingham hits a three-run homer during a game against San Diego on Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Ogden.

Justin J. Johnson, for WSU Athletics

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Weber State's Abby Grundy (1) speaks with teammate Taegan Smith, right, during a game against San Diego on Friday, March 21, 2025, in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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A Weber State softball player runs to first base in a game against San Diego on Friday, March 21, 2025, in Ogden.

Greg Merrill, for WSU Athletics

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Weber State's Tori Rey swings at a pitch in a game against San Diego on Friday, March 21, 2025, in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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Weber State softball coach Kristin Delahoussaye looks on during a game Friday, March 21, 2025, in Ogden.

Robert Casey, WSU Athletics

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OGDEN — Both teams circled in the outfield Saturday in their customary postgame team meeting. But long after San Diego had met, cleared the dugout and headed to the bus, Weber State’s softball team remained and continued a teamwide discussion.

One of many points brought up — in what was as much a player-led discussion as it was coach-led — was the need to get their competitive juices flowing well before the final game of a three-game series. At 10-22 in a nonconference slate with many tough matchups, the Wildcats feel they’ve shown great potential but haven’t consistently competed at their best.

First-year head coach Kristin Delahoussaye pointed out to her players that they’ve made considerable effort to get everyone game reps so, when conference play comes, every player will be ready to contribute. Through 32 games, for example, 13 of 16 players had at least 32 at-bats (one per game) this season.

And even among those other three, there’s impact.

That was the case Saturday when, facing a potential three-game sweep at the hands of San Diego, Delahoussaye called on sophomore lefty Emma Bingham for her 10th at-bat of the season.

With one out in the sixth and San Diego leading 4-2, Kiaira Smith and Jordan Hart set the table with one-out singles — only Hart’s fifth hit in 32 at-bats. That sent Bingham to the dish and, on a 1-0 count, the St. George native lined the ball into the day’s chilly breeze and over the right-field fence to give WSU the lead.

“We’re so versatile. Every hitter we had today hit based on matchups … we gotta get all the righties in the lineup and the defense was a little different but that’s OK, they’ll step up, they’ll show up,” Delahoussaye said. “Then during the game, we went to all the lefties, they filled in the spots they needed to, nobody was scared to play defense.

“We’re to a spot where we can be good and play everybody to win a ballgame.”

Bingham has appeared in such a role in 20 games; she’s 4 for 10 at the plate with two home runs, four RBIs, and is 3 for 3 on stolen-base attempts.

“I feel like I’ve been doing this my entire life so I know any situation, I’ve been successful at it at some point in my life,” Bingham said. “I just have the confidence that if I did it one time, I know I can do it again. … It’s either going to be a good outcome or I’m going to learn from it.”

Olivia Birkinshaw followed Bingham with a single and eventually came around for an important insurance run on a Mariyah Delgado hit, putting WSU up 6-4.

With freshman phenom and middle infielder Sadie Kirk sitting this series with a hand injury, pitcher Cali McCraw needed some backup trying to close out a complete game in the circle when she hit a batter and gave up a single to open the top of the seventh.

She got it from sophomore Sienna Solis, who ranged up the middle on a grounder and made the only play she had time for, a slick glove flip to shortstop Taegan Smith at the bag to get the inning’s first out.

That play likely sealed the win; the lead runner scored on the next play, another Solis-to-Smith putout, and McCraw got one more groundout for a 6-5 victory.

“We’re really good at having each other’s backs, picking up (each other),” senior Abby Grundy said.

Delahoussaye said she’s starting to see her players find the mental edge to be the difference-makers themselves.

“They all believe in each other, which is awesome … I think the thing we’re working on the hardest is, we believe in everybody else, sometimes we don’t always believe in ourselves,” Delahoussaye said. “It’s OK for it to be you … sometimes we’re excited for (others) to go up but when it’s you, it’s like ‘I hope I don’t let my team down.’ So we’re finding that balance between being so team-oriented and … also saying, ‘it’s my turn, watch what I can do.'”

Weber State next goes to Utah State on Tuesday before opening the Big Sky Conference schedule with Portland State coming to Ogden for a three-game set Friday, March 28, and Saturday, March 29.

“We play some really tough teams and you can kind of see just going from … working so hard to really compete at that level, and we do a good job at that level, but being able to come and face teams in our conference, we get a lot more confidence when we get in there and rely on those past experiences,” Grundy said. “We get to conference and we know just how much we’re made of.”