By Daniel Reedy:
It took the Spartans eight and a half innings to score, but they pulled off a victory in the second game of the doubleheader despite a repeating issue with stranding runners.
San Jose State (24-14, 4-5 in MW) rebounded with a 3-2 win in Game 3 of the series against Colorado State (18-13, 6-6 in MW) after the offense went silent in a 5-0 defeat earlier in the day.
The victory ended a four-game losing streak but Spartans’ head coach Peter Turner was not satisfied, particularly with the offense.
“We didn’t play well,” Turner said. “We didn’t hit well in key situations with a lot of people on base.”
Even in the win, the Spartans stranded seven runners. Over both games, SJSU left 12 runners on base after stranding nine in Game 1.
After the Spartans were shutout in the morning contest, Turner switched up the batting order by opting to move freshman second baseman Cassidy Clark to the 3-hole.
“[Clark] moves the ball, she has a great eye, her on base percentage is huge,” Turner said. “I felt like something needed to change.”
It worked.
Clark went 3 for 3 in the final game and boosted her season average to .395. Two of her three hits were infield singles — not exactly conventional No. 3 hitter production.
“No, it’s not [typical],” Turner said chuckling when asked about unusual 3-hole hitting. “[But] we didn’t play typical Spartan ball.”
First baseman Madison Aurin has been the No. 3 hitter for most of the season but Turner wanted to “take some of the pressure off” her.
“We depend a lot on her for RBI production and home runs and we just haven’t got it like we thought we would,” Turner said, but affirmed that he “[has] confidence in her.”
Aurin didn’t hit any home runs but she produced the game-winning RBI, singling to right field to knock in Clark. Aurin went 2 for 3 in Game 3 and she and Clark were two of only three Spartans with hits in the morning loss.
Outfielder Casey Watt remained in the 2-spot in both contests, walking twice in the first game and going 2 for 3 in the second. She finished the series 3 for 7 with a .600 OBA.
In addition to Aurin’s RBI, Georgia Blair doubled in a run down the right field line and Brittany Abacherli bounced in a run on a fielder’s choice.
In the two games, the Spartans threw 12 shutout frames. The problem was the first inning of the day.
Senior Katelyn Linford (15-6) got all but one out in the morning game but gave up five runs in the first inning — the only runs for either team. She shut down the Rams the rest of the way, totalling 10 strikeouts, but the hole was too deep for the Spartans’ hapless morning offense that totaled three hits and zero runs. Fellow senior Emily Rogers entered with two down in the seventh and got her only batter to fly out.
Another senior, Collette Riggs (6-3), tossed a two-run, three-hitter in the second matchup. The two runs against Riggs came in the third inning as she threw her second complete game of the season.
Colorado State’s Bridgette Hutton threw a shutout in the morning game, giving up just 3 hits while allowing 5 walks and striking out just one batter.
Rams’ pitcher Kaylynn Pierce held the Spartans to 4 runs Friday but took the loss in Game 3 of the series, giving up the game-tying and game-winning runs in the fifth frame.
Shortstop and leadoff hitter Haley Hutton was the only Ram with a hit in each game, finishing the series 6 for 11.
Centerfielder Madison Kilcrease hit an inside-the-park grand slam in the first inning of the morning game, roping the ball down the left-field line for her first homer of the season.
Action continues for the Spartans on Thursday with the beginning of the second three-game series as part of a six-game homestand. SJSU will take on Boise State (24-12, 6-6 in MW). First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Mission College.