By Hector Roldan (@HectorRSJSU) – Spear Reporter
Junior pitcher Lacie Ham prepares to throw her next pitch in SJSU’s second game of a doubleheader against SDSU on April 12, 2024. | Photo by Andrew Hartley – The Spear
San Jose State softball (13-22, 3-9 MW) lost a doubleheader Friday afternoon against the first place team in the Mountain West San Diego State (25-14, 12-3 MW).
Game 1:
San Jose State put itself in a hole early as San Diego State scored five runs in the first two innings and ultimately lost 14-1 in five innings.
The Spartans’ offense recorded just one run on six hits. They continuously hurt themselves defensively recording three errors, something that’s plagued them all season.
Junior pitcher Mia Reynolds struggled in the circle for the Spartans allowing five runs on eight hits while going just 1 2/3 innings.
Reynolds has recorded half of the team’s 22 losses and will need to bounce back and allow her offense to build throughout games in order to stay competitive.
Game 2:
San Jose State showed resiliency coming off a brutal first performance but fell short 2-1 in the final inning.
Junior pitcher Lacie Ham shined in the circle going allowing two runs over seven innings of work. Another complete game pitched for her. Unfortunately, she would take the loss after allowing the go ahead run in the top of the seventh that would ultimately give the Aztecs the win.
While the scores of the games were polar opposites, the Spartans’ offense remained the same. They were lacking intensity at the plate totaling just nine hits over both games. Middle infielders Reina Zermeno and Ahmiya Noriega accounted for four of those nine hits and the only RBI.
“You need pitching, defense and offense to win a game,” Ham said. “I want to see my teammates be more aggressive off those pitchers.”
“We had runners in scoring position and we can’t get behind them and that gets us out,” SJSU head coach Tammy Lohmann said. “[Lacie] had great energy, she was firing our team up and that’s the Ham we love.”
SJSU will look to grab a win in the series Sunday over the Aztecs with first pitch scheduled for noon.