By Matthew Meyer (@mattmeyersjsu) – Spear Reporter | SJSU senior infielder and utilitywoman Reina Zermeno steps to the plate (Photo by Matthew Meyer – Spear Photographer)
The San Jose State softball team’s (1-9, MWC 0-0) struggles continue with a 6-1 loss against the No. 24 ranked Washington Huskies (6-3, 0-0 BTC) in its final game of the Silicon Valley Classic I Sunday morning.
Junior pitcher Jordyn Fray took the mound for the Spartans but only lasted 1.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits and allowing one walk. Fray walked away responsible for only one run due to a defensive error by senior infielder Ahmiya Noriega.
Fray walked away with her first loss decision of the season, with her season ERA sitting at 13.50.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” senior infielder and utilitywoman Reina Zermeno said. “Coming out and playing like this, it’s honestly confusing.”
The loss against the Huskies extends the Spartans loss streak this season to seven in a row, staying winless at home to open up the year.
“We just got to try to get all of our elements working together,” SJSU head coach Tammy Lohmann said. “Pitching, our defense, or hitting together, we just need to get better in every element.”
The Spartans’ bats were quiet most of the morning, striking out 11 times and only scoring one run on three hits and two walks.
Freshman utilitywoman Leata Sherlin recorded two of the three hits, one of them being an RBI single that drove in senior utilitywoman Shay McDowell in the fourth inning. This was both Sherlin’s first career RBI and her first multi-hit game as a Spartan.
The Spartans and Huskies faced a variety of conditions, including grey skies, occasional bouts of light rain and even a power outage in the fourth inning that lasted the remainder of the game.
Lohmann acknowledged that the young nature of the roster could be a contributing factor to the struggles the team has experienced early in the season.
“We have a lot of youth on the team right now,” Lohmann said. “What we need to do is use these weekends as growth opportunities and continue to climb and get better.”
Out of the 21 players on the roster, 13 are underclassmen, with only three seniors in the clubhouse.
“We’re still trying to figure out how to play with each other,” freshman outfielder Sophia Burdick said. “I just think we got to keep working as a team.”
The Spartans will go on the road to the Mustang Classic and will face off against Manhattan at noon on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Bob Janssen field in San Luis Obispo, Cali.
“We need to work,” Lohmann said. “It’s the biggest ‘W’ you can think of, it’s got to be a large capital letter. ‘W’ with work this week. We got to get back to work and fine tune a lot of things to go into next weekend.”
