By Sandeep Chandok
San Jose State beat CSU Fullerton in dominating fashion, 3-0, to win its opening game of the postseason.
“This is a huge win for our program and it kind of puts us on the map,” said head coach Peter Turner in a postgame interview with NCAA.
The NCAA Tournament win is the first in Spartan history and came off the arm of ace and All-Mountain West First Team pitcher Katelyn Linford.
Linford threw a complete game while giving up just three hits, no runs and striking out three Titans.
“For me, it was important just to get ahead in the count and let my defense help me out with the ground balls,” Linford said.
But as important as pitching is, a game can’t be won without any runs on the board.
Enter Brittany Abacherli and Madison Aurin.
Abacherli went to work early in the game, ripping an opposite field solo shot in the top of the second in her first at bat to give SJSU a 1-0 edge.
“That at-bat, I was just ready to go,” Abacherli said. “As we’ve watched film, we knew that she (Kelsey Kessler) was pitching a lot outside — it was just awesome to get ahead and get a good start.”
Four innings later, toward the game’s end, fellow All-Mountain West First Team infielder Aurin put down a 2-RBI single to tack on some insurance runs for the Spartans.
SJSU now awaits UCLA in the winners bracket as the tournament is a double elimination format. The Spartans, with a victory today, will play at least two more games.
Wednesday’s game is at 2 p.m.
