Softball team takes two of three from Spartans over weekend
The Utah State Aggies softball team split a doubleheader against the San Jose State Spartans on Friday, April 22, on Johnson Field. The Aggies won the first game, 4-2, and lost the second, 2-1. The Western Athletic Conference victory snapped an eight-game losing streak.
“They were both good games,” said Aggie head coach Carissa Millsap-Kalaba. “They were competitive and challenging. They were gut wrenching, but at the same time those kind of games are a lot of fun. It’s a test to see where you are.”
Senior pitcher Kate Greenough pitched a brilliant game in part one of the doubleheader. Greenough struck out a season-high nine batters, walked five batters and allowed two earned runs on five hits in seven innings of work. Millsap-Kalaba said she was pleased with Greenough’s performance on many levels.
“She did a really good job in regards to mixing up the speeds, throwing where they didn’t think they were going to hit,” Millsap-Kalaba said. “She pitched very smart. She went for accuracy. Kate today really showed that she’s a senior and showed her maturity on the mound.”
However, Greenough couldn’t take the credit.
“Simone Hubbard called the pitches today and she did a fantastic job, and I give my credit to Simone,” Greenough said. “She did a great job mixing up batters, keeping them off balance. It really showed. A lot of called strikes, which means they were surprised.”
Freshman second baseman Tina Ferguson proved to be the hero in game one, hitting a walk off three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Ferguson knocked out her sixth home run of the season and her third of the week.
San Jose State scored first with two runs in the top of the third inning. Greenough got the first two outs of the inning, then Alyssa Sulay started the rally, reaching on a fielder’s choice and stole second. Aggie catcher Hubbard committed an error, allowing Sulay to advance to third. Greenough walked the next two batters to load the bases. Spartans Brittany McConnell came through with a two-out single to left center to score two.
Utah State got one run back in the bottom of the fifth inning when senior center fielder Nicole (Rupp) Tindall led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a ground out by junior left fielder Megan McDonald. Junior right fielder Joreigh Landers knocked Tindall home to cut the lead in half with a single, her 10th RBI of the season.
After the first Aggie batter of the seventh inning grounded out, Tindall kept the Aggies alive with a single to right field. Then with two outs and Tindall still on first, Landers added a single of her own to put two runners on with two outs, and the Ags trailing by one. Ferguson then hit the decisive blow with a three-run home run to center field. The home run was her sixth of the season and the third of the week.
The Aggies received a scare in the top of the fifth when Greenough got a rocket comeback shot off her ankle. The team trainer and Greenough took time to make sure she was fit to continue pitching. Greenough finished off the inning, striking out the side.
“I was really mad at first and then I think that was an adrenaline thing and then I just realized that my team was playing great behind me and they were doing the things they needed to do,” Greenough said. “If I have to pitch two more innings with a bum ankle, that’s the least I can do.
Freshman Shelby Tyteca pitched a strong game as well in part two of the the doubleheader. Tyteca walked two, struck out two and allowed no earned runs. However, the Aggie infielders struggled, committing four errors that led to two Spartan runs.
“Shelby pitched really well, holding them at bay,” Millsap-Kalaba said. “In the second game we had four errors which didn’t help our cause considering that two of those errors they (Spartans) scored runs on.”
San Jose State, once again, scored first, plating two in the third inning, the same inning that the Spartans scored in the first game. Both runs were unearned. Sulay reached on an error by shortstop Rachel Evans. She came around to score on a double to left by Kelli Fangonilo. With two outs, Fangonilo scored on an error by USU second baseman Ferguson to give San Jose State the 2-0 lead.
The Aggies cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Redshirt sophomore third baseman Kelley Kaneshiro doubled to right with one out in the inning. She moved to third on a single to right by Hubbard to put runners on the corners. Tindall followed with USU’s third-straight single to right to plate Kaneshiro and cut the lead to 2-1. That was as close as USU would get, as Hubbard was thrown out at third on the play and McDonald grounded out to end the inning.
“We are doing what we need to do. We are just falling up short,” Millsap-Kalaba said.
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu
Saturday
USU came into Saturday’s senior day matchup knowing that a win would go a long way to get the Aggies closer to a WAC postseason berth. The Aggies won 2-1, but until the last pitch, the outcome was in doubt.
Enter Tina Ferguson.
With one out on the board in the bottom of the seventh inning, Ferguson came up to bat. Just previous, SJSU had prevented the Aggies from placing a runner in scoring position. Simone Hubbard was thrown out at second when Nicole Tindall tried for the sacrifice bunt. Rather than making the play at first, SJSU’s catcher, Brittany McConnell, went for the force out at second and snagged Hubbard, but Tindall made it safely to first. Ferguson hit a walk-off single off the first pitch straight up the middle to center field.
At the worst possible moment for SJSU, Stephanie Ziemann mishandled the ball in center field and gave the speedy Tindall more time to round the bases from first. Tindall beat the throw with time to spare, scoring the winning run. The Aggies got their 18th win for the season and moved to a 5-11 WAC record – two solid games ahead of Nevada for sixth place with three games remaining on the WAC schedule.
“Tina came up clutch for us,” USU head coach Carissa Millsap-Kabala said. “Nicole’s speed is undoubtedly quick, so it was definitely a good win.”
Until this week, Ferguson had been struggling at the plate. In this last week, she has a .642 batting average and has batted in 12 runs at her spot near the bottom of the lineup.
It’s safe to say that the Webster’s Dictionary should include the name Tina Ferguson in its definition for the word “clutch.”
“I wasn’t at the first of the year,” Ferguson said of her batting, “so I’m glad I could end well. I’m just really glad to help my team out.”
Ferguson said having the opportunity to make big plays excites her.
She said, “I thrive off that. I’m glad I could come through.”
Not a step behind Ferguson was senior Aggie pitcher Kate Greenough. Greenough faced 29 batters on the day and pitched seven strikeouts. She also allowed a mere four hits and a single, solitary earned run. Greenough walked four batters but got the strikouts when they mattered most. When Utah State was making its offensive comeback, Greenough was deadly from the circle. Three of Greenough’s seven K’s came in the final two innings of play, two of them in the seventh. Fatigue was simply not an issue for Greenough.
“I really didn’t get tired at all,” Greenough said. “It was just the adrenaline that kept me going. Someone would makes a good play behind you, and that pushes you to do so much better to help them out. I don’t think you get tired until you come in, sit down and get a drink of water, but then you go back out and do it again. We only had one game today, so go all out and get it done.”
On the other side of the ball, Greenough’s counterpart had an equally fantastic day, excepting the final two innings. SJSU’s Amanda Pridmore pitched 6.3 innings, allowed five hits, two runs – one of which was earned – walked one batter and six strikeouts on the afternoon in a losing effort.
Next up for USU is the University of Utah. The Utes will visit Logan Monday afternoon to take on this resurgent Aggie squad that has won four of its last five games.
– la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu