By Jasmina Lara- Spear Reporter | Spartans infielders gather for a quick discussion as the pitcher warms up during SJSU game against Santa Clara on March 8. (Photo by Jasmina Lara)
In the first game of the Silicon Valley Classic II, San Jose State softball (10-12) beat Santa Clara (10-9) 4-3 on Saturday.
Santa Clara’s first runs came from sophomore Rebecca Rubio and graduate student Hope Alley.
However, the Spartans got the ball rolling only allowing the Broncos three runs, seven hits, and two errors total at the end of the game.
The Spartans were able to have four runs, nine hits and zero errors in total at the end of the game, along with 94 strikes and 147 pitches.
During the game the umpire had a big strike zone which SJSU was not used to, and had to adjust.
“The strike zone is typically different from a typical umpire,” senior Aubrie Thomas said. “So, we just had to adjust that to a little bit and just connect the hits.”
Thomas scored after junior Renia Zermeno ran a triple to left center.
“When we started getting going and our run started scoring, we started to connect our hits and put them all together, I think that’s when we were like, oh yes, we got this,” Thomas said.
Sophomore Carly Cummings scored on an error and junior Shay McDowell scored right after.
The sixth inning saw a switch, moving senior Mia Reynolds to senior Lacie Ham.
The switch of pitchers helped slow down the Broncos’ offense, not allowing them any runs and creating more momentum for the Spartans’ defense.
“We’ve been having trouble coming back from deficits,” Ham said. “Now we came back from a two run deficit to come up with three, two, and then to get four two, and just coming back from being down is really big for us.” Ham said.
Thomas was able to score on an error and the defense was able to shut down Santa Clara’s offense in the last inning.
“I think collectively today, our defense played solid behind both of our pitchers, Mia [Reynolds] and Ham,” SJSU head coach Tammy Lohmann said. “I really, really was pleased with that today.”
