By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
San Jose State softball will face its toughest competition yet at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic this weekend in Palm Springs. Out of the five matchups, two will be against nationally ranked teams.
The Spartans (8-3) will open the tournament by playing their second undefeated team in a row against No. 12 Auburn.
This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.
The Tigers (14-0) have a dominant pitching staff with all five pitchers combining for a 0.24 ERA.
Junior and senior starters Makayla Martin and Kaylee Carlson are 7-0 and 6-0 with a 0.00 and 0.52 ERA, respectively.
The Spartans will have to watch for freshman shortstop Taylon Snow, who leads the offense with a .528 batting average. Sophomore first baseman Justus Perry, who leads the team with 17 RBIs is another Tiger to keep in check.
First pitch is set for Friday at 12:30 p.m.
SJSU will play the St. John’s Red Storm in the second game of Friday’s double-header.
The all-time series between the two squads is tied, 1-1.
The Red Storm (2-3) have five players batting .400 and over, with junior right field Christina Melendez leading the team at .600.
Freshman Elyse Morris and senior McKenzie Murray are the only two pitchers with recorded numbers for St. John’s. They each have one win apiece and combine for an ERA of 3.
The game starts at 3 p.m.
The Spartans open Saturday’s double-header with the Wisconsin Badgers at 2:30 p.m.
Sophomore pitcher Kaitlyn Menz tops the pitching staff with a 3-2 record and a 2.63 ERA. She has 24 strikeouts in 29.1 innings pitched.
Junior catcher Melanie Cross leads the Badgers (4-4) with nine RBIs in eight games.
Wisconsin leads the all-time series 3-2, but SJSU won the last meeting 9-0 in 2012.
The Saturday double-header continues with the Mississippi State Bulldogs at 5:00 p.m.
Freshman Mia Davidson leads MSU (9-1) in seven categories, which includes a batting average of .484, 15 hits and two home runs.
Three of the four pitchers have ERAs below 1.00 with seniors Cassady Knudsen and Holly Ward each having 0.00 ERAs. The four combine for a team ERA of 0.42.
Knudsen is 3-0 with 36 Ks in 18.2 IP.
This will be the first meeting between the Spartans and Bulldogs.
SJSU will conclude the tournament against the No. 5 Oregon Ducks at 11:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
The Ducks (9-1) pitching staff has a combined total of 82 Ks between four pitchers. Junior Megan Kleist has 35 of them in 26.1 IP.
Offensively, three players have reached double digits in RBIs, including senior third baseman Jenna Lilley who leads with 16 in just 10 games. The offense combines for a .402 BA.
The Ducks have won the last eight matchups and lead the all-time series 11-4.
The Spartans have a difficult weekend ahead of them as they face the most dominant pitching they’ve seen thus far. The offense will have to kick into high gear and execute on every opportunity they’re given.