By Daniel Reedy:
Thanks to a pair of the conference’s top pitchers, San Jose State sits in second place in the Mountain West.
The Spartans also rank second in ERA and opponents’ batting average.
Seniors Katelyn Linford and Colette Riggs have tossed 82 percent of SJSU’s innings this season and 95 percent of the team’s strikeouts.
Linford is responsible for most of that 95 percent as she aims to strike out every hitter.
“I’m [trying] to get as many strikeouts as I can because I feel like I do better when I attack the batter,” Linford said. “That hopefully takes the pressure off the fielders behind me.”
Linford’s 167 strikeouts lead the conference and have propelled her to a 5.57 K/BB ratio.
Riggs, on the other hand, pitches to contact and said her goal is to “keep the ERA down” as the the Spartans enter their last few series of the season.
“I really just want to help my teammates out,” Riggs said. “I really hope that we can push through the rest of this together.”
She’s certainly doing her part, carrying a 2.27 ERA, good for No. 4 in the MW. Linford is right behind her with a 2.40 ERA for No. 5.
The two pitchers rank fifth and sixth in opponents’ batting average. Riggs (7-3) has the slight edge, boasting a .223 average against.
Linford, however, still owns the more impressive win-loss record as her 19 wins lead the conference. Seven of those wins came during the nine-game winning streak earlier in the season in which she held a sub-1 ERA.
Both pitchers sliced their ERAs by over half from last season (Linford – 5.08, Riggs – 5.25) and significantly improved their WHIPs: Linford went from 1.65 to 1.06 and Riggs from 1.75 to 1.35.
Despite throwing a combined 240 innings, neither Linford nor Riggs ranks in the top-20 in wild pitches thrown. Both have been excellent in the field as Riggs has yet to make an error and Linford has just two.
So what’s different this year?
There’s a new pitching coach and Linford mentioned a couple new training routines and the focusing on “the little things that make your overall motion better.” From before the season started, SJSU has raved about pitching coach Letty Olivarez who joined the Spartans from Arizona State.
Unfortunately for the Spartans, the offense isn’t producing at its 2016 level, handing more responsibility to the pitching staff.
“It’s definitely a little more stressful because we have to keep them to lot less runs,” Linford said. “I think they are going to improve as we go.”
Yet, SJSU has found consistent success, carrying a plus-55 run differential and is now 9-6 in conference (29-15 overall).
“[We have hit] our goals during the games and we’ve been pretty good at sustaining them,” Riggs said. “We’ve been really good at accepting our roles and performing when we need to perform.”
Despite the workload, the pair remains dedicated to making the most of the final season.
“This is my last year, I am not going to give up or get tired,” Linford said. “I am going to give everything I’ve got for every game.”
Time will tell if Linford, Riggs and the Spartans will be able to rise to the top of the standings, but with a pair of aces, the odds look pretty good.
