By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
To begin its difficult weekend stretch, San Jose State softball split Friday’s doubleheader with a 4-0 loss to No. 12 Auburn and a 7-5 victory against St. John’s University.
The Spartans (9-4) came out strong against the Tigers (16-1) and kept the game scoreless until the top of the seventh inning.
AU’s junior second baseman Casey McCrackin opened up the frame with a leadoff double and later scored on senior center fielder Victoria Draper’s RBI single to put the Tigers on the board.
SJSU’s junior pitcher Madison Aurin then gave up another double to senior catcher Courtney Shea, scoring two runs to make it 3-0. The Tigers tacked on their fourth run from sophomore right field Alyssa Rivera’s RBI single.
The Spartans led off the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles from Aurin and sophomore designated hitter Georgia Blair, but nothing came after that.
The Tigers took the 4-0 shutout win as Aurin pitched a complete game, but dropped to 1-4 on the season.
SJSU looked to end its three-game losing streak against the Red Storm (2-5) in the second game of the doubleheader.
A bases-loaded walk for senior third baseman Emma Entzminger got the Spartans back on track, ending 15 scoreless innings.
St. John’s tied the game in the fourth on a solo homer from junior right fielder Christina Melendez. The offense continued for the Red Storm with two more runs and took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth.
Looking for a rally, the Spartans responded with four runs on six hits in the bottom half to retake the lead at 5-3. Aurin doubled to center, scoring freshman left fielder Desiree Reyes, with Blair’s RBI single following in suit.
Sophomore DH Kaelin Amrein continued the offensive spark with an RBI single to score Aurin. St. John’s gave the Spartans their fourth run in the inning on another bases-loaded walk.
SJSU’s offense rolled on with two insurance runs in the sixth inning from another RBI single from Blair and a sacrifice fly from senior center fielder Brittany Abacherli that made it 7-3.
Down to their last three outs, the Red Storm scored two quick runs to make things interesting, but the Spartans held on to win 7-5.
Freshman Caroline Bowman (6-0) threw her fourth complete game of the season. Blair highlighted the offense as she went 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Tournament play continues tomorrow with more tough matchups against Wisconsin at 2:30 p.m. and Mississippi State at 5 p.m.