By Taylor Lupetti:
The Spartans opened their weekend at the San Diego Classic by losing 15-11 in eight innings to the McNeese State Cowgirls. However, they bounced back in Game 2, beating the Boston University Terriers 6-5.
The day started with slugfest for San Jose State and McNeese. SJSU held its own against the Cowgirls as the Spartans lasted until the eighth tied 8-8.
The Spartans were down 8-2 until the fourth inning when they scored three runs with RBIs from Kristen Heffley, Madison Aurin and Alexandra Luna.
It was in the fifth inning when SJSU tied the game 8-8 on the back of Watt’s RBI single and two more RBIs from Heffley. The Spartans held the Cowgirls off until the eighth-inning, game-winning bomb.
The Cowgirls had roped in a grand slam and a solo home run back-to-back in the third inning against Spartan pitchers Katelyn Linford and Emily Rogers who relieved Linford after the slam. Even so, the Spartans held on and managed to give themselves another chance in the eighth.
The Cowgirls soon ended the game as junior catcher/third baseman Erika Piancastelli hit the team’s second grand slam of the day, this one a walk-off in the bottom of the eighth.
The Spartans came back later in the day to defeat the Boston University Terriers 6-5.
With two, three-run innings to start the game, San Jose maintained a 6-2 lead until the seventh inning when the Terriers gave SJSU a scare, scoring three runs to cut the score to just 6-5.
Despite Boston’s efforts, the Spartans still left with the win and the Terriers with tails between their legs.
Shining in the first innings for the Spartans was junior outfielder Brittany Abacherli who started off with a home run in both games.