By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
Caroline Bowman tossed her seventh complete game as San Jose State softball clinched the series against UNLV with a 6-2 victory at Mission College.
The Spartans (23-10, 7-1 MW) have had back-to-back games with the offense producing eight hits against the Lady Rebels’ (20-12, 3-5 MW) pitching staff.
“We hit in key situations today,” said head coach Peter Turner. “We were getting offense up and down the lineup.”
SJSU put up two runs their first time up. Sophomore right fielder Kaelin Amrein scored as senior center fielder Brittany Abacherli reached on an error by UNLV’s freshman shortstop Samantha Diaz.
Following in suit, junior first baseman Madison Aurin reached on a fielder’s choice and extended the lead to two after the first frame.
The Spartan offense wasn’t done as it exploded for four more runs on five hits in the second inning.
Senior shortstop Emma Entzminger made it 3-0 SJSU with a single up the middle. Two batters later, sophomore second baseman Cassidy Clark blooped a single down the left field line and earned her fourth RBI in the series.
Designated hitter Georgia Blair blew the game open with a two-RBI double that made it 6-0 Spartans after two innings.
“That hit felt good. I’ve been struggling a little bit with the bat, but I came out in a big stretch with runners on base,” said the sophomore on her two-run double. “It felt good to get some runs for the team.”
The Lady Rebels got their first runs in the sixth inning. Senior designated hitter Janine Petmecky reached on a fielder’s choice that scored junior left fielder Myranda Bueno.
Senior Brooke Stover provided UNLV with its second run. Bowman couldn’t handle the catcher’s comebacker, which allowed senior third baseman Jadelyn Yadao-Valdez to score.
The Spartans went on to win 6-2 to secure the series. Similar to Game 1, seven SJSU players recorded a hit, with Clark leading the way with two.
Bowman earned her 12th win and seventh complete game on the year.
“I felt like I was getting a lot of ground balls and my defense was working really well behind me,” the freshman said. “This win was really important because there’s a lot of teams in the battle for first place.”The Spartans will aim for another Mountain West sweep tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.
