By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa )
In a pitchers duel, a walk-off two-run homer from junior Madison Aurin lifted San Jose State softball over New Mexico, 2-1.
The first baseman recorded two of the Spartans’ (29-15, 13-6 MW) three hits, with the game-winning shot marking the first home run at Spartan Softball Field.
“Being a pitcher, I can read the trends of what the pitcher was going to do,” Aurin said on her home run. “I figured she would throw me inside, so I was just sitting inside.”
The first run of the game came in favor of the Lobos (12-34, 5-12 MW) in the the fourth inning.
Junior third baseman Monica Salas gave UNM a one-run lead with a single up the middle that drove in senior designated player Chelsea Johnson.
Up until the seventh inning, Krissy Fortner, the Lobos senior starting pitche, held SJSU to two hits.
“We didn’t have much discipline at the plate,” said head coach Peter Turner. “Weak ground balls and weak pop-ups described the first six innings. We had the right people at the right time in the lineup coming up.”
Senior center fielder Brittany Abacherli started the inning by reaching on an error from sophomore shortstop Cameryn O’Grady.
Sophomore Cassidy Clark advanced Abacherli to second with a groundout to Salas.
On a 0-1 count, Aurin launched her 10th home run on the year to send the fans home with a victory.
Freshman starting pitcher Caroline Bowman (14-2) recorded a career-high six strikeouts in her complete game.
“I felt good. My velocity was up a little more than the last couple of weekends,” Bowman said. “My defense was working really well behind me and they got a lot of ground-ball outs for me.”
The Spartans look to sweep the series as they host their last regular-season home game on Sunday.
“Bottom line is that we have to move the ball better than we did today, have good pitching and great defense,” Turner said. “It’s a win we desperately need. We cannot afford to drop a game.”
First pitch at Spartan Softball Field is at 12 p.m.