Utah State softball falls to SJSU 2-1
Aggie softball battled it out against San Jose State in their first Mountain West weekend series at home on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
USU fell behind with a score of 9-3 in game one losing their five-game winning streak, came back for game two with an 8-6 win, and suffered a tough 15-3 loss for game three.
Noelle Johnson pitched a full game on Friday with her defense strong behind her. Johnson pitched three, three-up, three-down innings in a row, the last only taking four pitches in total.
The perfect pitch to Spartans’ infielder, Jessie Hufstetler, sent the ball over the fence for a two-run homerun in the third inning.
Inning seven was a San Jose rally with six runs scored, five RBIs, and another homerun.
“This was a tough loss today, because for six innings, Noelle (Johnson) and the defense behind her were lights out,” said USU coach Steve Johnson.
Offensively, the Aggies managed to constantly put their bat on the ball. Unfortunately, the ball kept going straight in to the Spartans’ gloves. However, Sarah Chow hit a triple, Paxton Provost hit a double, and Libby Pederson and Victoria Saucedo each hit solo homers.
“Our hitters didn’t make any adjustments at the plate until the seventh, and by then it was too late,” Coach Johnson said. “However, we can still take the series and we need to come out fighting tomorrow like our backs are against the wall.”
Game two started with Katie Schroeder on the mound and a strong Utah State defense and offense with a three-run lead on the board at the end of the first inning.
Inning two gave up two homeruns and the lead to the Spartans.
April Brown took over the mound in the fourth inning, only giving up two more runs for the remainder of the game.
Sarina Jaramillo hit her first homerun as an Aggie in the fourth inning, bringing the team back on top with the lead.
“This is more like where we’ve been in our hot streak year,” Steve Johnson said. “We go as our offense goes. As long as we’re putting the ball in play and doing things there, our pitchers and our defense will have a lot more confidence.”
The Aggies took the win for game two with a double play to end it.
“The mental side of coming back and answering from yesterday’s game really all plays in to a complete team victory today. This was a big comeback for a lot of people, not just as a team,” Steve Johnson said. “In our league, you have to answer back when you’re down and that’s something we’re a lot better at this year than we have been in years past.”
The game two win set up for a winner-takes-all game three on Sunday.
“We just got to attack the strike zone and just go right at them,” Jaramillo said. “They’re a fighting team. They scored every time after we scored. We just have to go right at them and keep the good vibes on our side.”
On Sunday, game three took the best from Utah State softball.
Offense was off with a handful of basehits, a double hit by Noelle Johnson, and another solo homerun for Jaramillo.
In the first six innings, with Johnson on the mound, USU had three, three-up, three-down innings and gave up three home runs, one to Madison Aurin and two to Jessie Hufstetler.
Inning seven is where Aggie defense lost its way.
Brown stepped up to the mound after Johnson gave up two hits to start off the inning. Brown continued to give up two walks and a grand-slam hit by Brittany Abacherli before giving the mound back to Noelle Johnson.
The Spartans continued to feed off of Utah State pitching as they hit three basehits and two doubles off of Noelle Johnson, scoring a solid five RBI’s just in seven at bats. Mid count, Noelle Johnson gave up the mound once more, but to freshman Schroeder.
Shroeder ended the inning in two batters with a strikeout and a line drive to third base.
The game, and series, ended with the Aggies going three-up, three-down.
“There were a lot of little things that made a difference early on. A couple of base running mistakes, a couple of missed pitches and a couple of bad at-bats and we got behind early and couldn’t come all the way back,” said head coach Johnson. “Bottom line is, today we just didn’t compete very well with a chance to win the series. As we continue to build this program into a contender, that’s something we need to learn how to do. San José State has been in these games before and it showed.”
—kenna.cook@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @kennaacook