By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Senior Staff Writer
Ashley Rico running out of the batter’s box to beat a throw at first. I Photo by Christian Vieyra – The Spear
San Jose State softball (12-16, 3-3MW) defeated Boise State (23-14, 3-3 MW) 6-4 in the final game of the series.
SJSU was able to bounce back after losing the first two matchups thanks largely in part to a 3 for 4 performance from freshman outfielder Haley Reeve. Reeve also scored two of the Spartans’ six runs.
“We talked today about having the will, the drive and the competitiveness to leave it on the field today,” head coach Tammy Lohmann said. “The team just did that today.”
The first spark of the game for the Spartans came in the fifth inning when sophomore utility player Reina Zermeno hit a three-run home run to break a scoreless tie. Then senior outfielder Ashley Rico would go back-to-back with a solo shot to give San Jose State a four-nothing lead.
This lead would be quickly squandered as the Broncos would answer back with a four-run inning of their own in the bottom of the sixth. Three of those runs came on a home run from Boise State junior outfielder Mykenzie Hanna.
But SJSU would clinch victory on a two-run double from sophomore infielder Ahmiya Noriega in extra innings.
“We just had very timely hitting today,” Lohmann said.
Timely hitting would be a huge factor as the Spartans would go 7-15 hitting with two outs and every run scored would come with two outs.
Junior pitcher Mia Reynolds got the start and threw four shutout innings with three strikeouts. The winning pitcher would be freshman Alexis Toner who came in and threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
Junior utility player Aubrie Thomas also had a multi-hit game as she went 2 for 4 and scored two runs.
SJSU will be back home on April 3 to face off against the Fresno State Bulldogs (22-11, 2-4 MW) at Spartan Softball Stadium.