By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
San Jose State softball didn’t have an answer to another dominant Fresno State pitching performance as it dropped the second game of the series, 8-2.
The Spartans (25-13, 9-4 MW) have now lost back-to-back games in conference play for the first time this season.
“We got out-played, out-pitched and out-defensed,” said head coach Peter Turner. “They beat us in all three facets, and they deserved to win and we deserved to lose.”
Yesterday’s momentum stayed with the Bulldogs (26-15, 9-2 MW) as they scored their first three runs in the third inning.
A triple from sophomore second baseman Miranda Rohleder plated the first two runs of the game for FSU.
Senior shortstop Katie Castellon followed in suit by reaching on a fielder’s choice and made it 3-0 Bulldogs after three.
The team added a run in the fourth inning and kept pounding with two more in the fifth.
Two RBI singles from sophomore catcher Hayleigh Galvan and junior center fielder Vanessa Hernandez extended the Bulldogs lead to six.
At that point of the game, sophomore starting pitcher Samantha Mejia was holding SJSU to just two hits.
“Pitch selection was a big factor,” said senior shortstop Emma Entzminger. “We’ve studied these pitchers all week, knew what they were going to throw and we didn’t execute like we should of.”
In the sixth, the Spartans scored their first runs of the series. Junior first baseman Madison Aurin made it 6-2 with a two-run double.
That wasn’t enough to spark a comeback as the Bulldogs answered back in the following inning. Hernandez tallied her second and third RBI on the day with a two-run double to make it 8-2.
FSU went on to win by that score to clinch the series from SJSU. Mejia only allowed the two runs on five hits in her complete game.
Freshman pitcher Caroline Bowman was handed her second loss of the season.
“I think I was hitting my spots pretty well and they were hitting my good pitches too,” Bowman said. “There’s a lot of really good hitters on that team and they hit the ball well.”
The Spartans look to avoid the sweep in the series finale on Sunday. The game starts at 12 p.m. at Mission College.