By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
With sole possession of first place in the Mountain West, San Jose State softball heads to Reno to extend its lead and continue conference-play dominance against Nevada.
The Spartans (24-10, 8-1 MW) will face the division’s second-best batting average of .314, also ranked 21st in the country.
Senior right fielder Erika Hansen leads the Wolf Pack (16-16, 5-4 MW) with a .426 BA, 36 RBIs and 10 home runs.
Sadaria McAlister tops the team with nine steals on 10 attempts. In the toughest to strikeout category, the sophomore left fielder is listed 47th with only five K’s in 119 at-bats.
Nevada knows how to get on base. The squad’s .401 OBP and .472 slugging percentage ranks 19th and 25th in the nation, respectively.
Four pitchers make up the Wolf Pack’s 4.17 ERA. Julia Jensen (10-7) tops the pitching staff with 19 starts and 13 complete games.
The freshman’s team-high 119 strikeouts in 123.2 innings pitched is rated 47th in the country.
SJSU’s pitching staff has also been supreme throughout the season, but will face a challenge in Nevada’s lineup.
The fiery offense will have to take advantage of the Wolf Pack’s high ERA in order to back up the pitching.
The Spartans lead the all-time series 35-19, with a 14-5 advantage in contests played in Reno. Head Coach Peter Turner sits at 347 career-wins with the program and looks to reach 350 in the three-game series.
Due to the predicted weather, first pitch on Friday at Christina M. Hixson Softball Park will be at 9 a.m., with a possible doubleheader game to follow.