By Daniel Reedy:
Freshman shortstop Georgia Blair and Spartans (23-10) scored all the runs they would need in the first two innings to beat their rivals in the opening game of the series.
Blair whacked a two-run home run in the first on her way to a 4-for-4, performance that propelled San Jose State’s 5-3 victory over San Diego State (18-14). Blair’s batting average rose to .452 through 23 games (20 starts).
Katelyn Linford (15-3) threw her 12th complete game of the season, giving up three runs — all in the sixth inning — from Jenavee Peres’ solo shot and a two-run blast from Shelby Thompson. Peres is first in the Mountain West in hits (41) and is tied for the lead in home runs (9).
Excluding the three-run sixth inning, Linford tossed six shutout innings of three-hit ball against arguably the top hitting team in the conference. SDSU leads the MW in batting average, on base percentage and hits and is second to only Fresno State in runs scored. Linford tied her career high in strikeouts with 12 and after not walking any batters Friday, her K/BB ratio rose to 3.94.
“[The Aztecs] are a very talented hitting team,” said Spartan head coach Peter Turner in a postgame interview with SJSU Athletics. “[Linford] has really carried us this year.”
Blair wasn’t the only Spartan to bat 1.000 today. Outfielder Chelsea Jenner went 3-3 and hit her fifth double of the season, a new career high. Jenner is up to .382 on the year.
Madison Aurin batted 1-for-4 with an RBI and was the only player to score two runs. Aurin’s single in the second knocked in the winning run for SJSU.
Freshman second baseman Cassidy Clark also went 1 for 4 and batted in the fifth run. Her on base percentage dropped but is still sixth in the MW (.495).
The freshman middle-infield duo of Blair and Clark are batting a combined .395 and have 20.5 percent of the Spartans RBIs this season.
Catcher Alyssa Avila went 2 for 4 and is 5 for 11 with 4 RBIs in the last three games.
SDSU’s Marissa Moreno (7-5) was pulled during the second frame after conceding 5 runs in 1⅓ innings. Moreno finished the day with just one strikeout.
The Aztecs ace Erica Romero relieved Moreno, shutting out the Spartans for 4⅔ innings and improving her ERA to 3.19.
SDSU’s pitching staff finished with just 4 Ks, not surprising considering the Spartans are struck out the second least in the MW.
Action continues today at 6 p.m. for Game 2 of the three-game series in San Diego.