Ag softball grabs one of three in SJ
After two straight losses to the San Jose State Spartans, the Aggie softball team was able to recuperate and end the three-game Western Athletic Conference series with a much needed win Saturday.
The Aggies lost Friday, 3-0, and game one Saturday, 5-0, before pulling together a victory in game two, 2-0.
The Aggies entered the game Friday with a four-game winning streak.
SJSU, which raised its record to 5-8 in the WAC, logged its fourth win in a row over the Aggies and showed no signs of giving up in Saturday’s games.
The score stayed 0-0 for the first half of the game, with both USU sophomore pitcher Lindsay Benson and SJSU pitcher Roxanne Bejarano firing no-hit balls for four and five innings, respectively.
After a wild pitch from the Aggies, the Spartans pulled together on a hit and scored the first run of the night.
USU senior third baseman Lauren Guzman pulled off a hit in the sixth inning but was left stranded on second base after the team was unable to get any more knocks with the bat.
SJSU finished off the sixth inning with two runs into home, bringing their score up 3-0 over the Aggies.
Down three runs in the seventh inning, senior Jamie Fife pulled it together with a single hit, followed by another hit by sophomore Aubrie Stroman. After freshman Amanda Grow pitch-ran for Stroman, junior shortstop Tara Evans stepped up to bat, hitting a single to center which allowed Fife to run it in for the first USU score of the day. The play also moved Stroman and Evans up to second and third base with only one out.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, the rally ended with disappointing back-to-back outs, and the game ended.
Junior third baseman Amy Schaible also had a disappointing night. With no hits the entire game, Schaible, who was named USU’s Athlete of the Week last week, ended her nine-game winning streak.
Similar to the Nevada series, the Aggies started off Saturday’s double-header with an unsatisfactory loss.
The Spartans made two runs in each of the first and second innings. With USU senior starting pitcher Lexy Perry unable to stop SJSU’s momentum, freshman pitcher Stacey Ellingsworth was sent in to put out the Spartan fire. She allowed only three hits in the remaining four innings, faltering the Spartan’s ability to put more points on the board.
Senior Ashley Bellum finally broke up SJSU pitcher Kelly Harrison’s no-hit bid with a single after freshman Nicole Rupp led off the sixth inning with a walk. Fife later followed up with a single hit to load the bases, but the Aggies were unable to hit any runners home.
The first game Saturday ended with a San Jose 5-0 score over the Aggies.
After a quick break in between games, USU found the endurance needed to bring San Jose’s winning streak to a screeching halt. The win not only stopped USU’s five-game road losing streak, but it also broke SJSU’s five-game winning streak in series play.
Bellum started the game off with a single hit, but nothing followed the hit for the next couple innings.
During SJSU’s fourth inning, the Spartan’s Natasha Hawkins hit a grounder to Rupp at second, who fired the ball to Evans at second base. Evans then threw it to Stroman at first base, causing the Aggies to make a double play.
After successful hits from junior center Heather Haak, senior center Jami Uragami and Rupp, Fife came into the eighth and smacked a double to center, bringing Haak and Rupp home.
Sophomore pitcher Lindsey Benson ended all hope for the Spartans to come back after she pitched a strike-out, a fielder’s choice and a pop-out to end the game. The shut-out was Benson’s first of her Aggie career and USU’s second of the year. Benson recorded her 100th strikeout of the season Friday and now has 104 for the year, the most for an Aggie pitcher since Kristin Hommel in 2002.
-bfairman@cc.usu.edu