By Chris Estrada
San Jose State softball (32-17, 16-8 MW) was unable to defeat Nevada ( 23-24, 10-11 MW) in its final game of the regular season.
The Wolf Pack got on board right away with five runs in the first by taking advantage of defensive mistakes.
Junior starter Madison Aurin was in trouble from the beginning after loading the bases with the first three hitters. She was unable to pitch through the damage and left after getting only two outs in the inning.
Freshman Caroline Bowman came in for relief but the Wolf Pack’s offense couldn’t be contained.
Nevada senior Erica Hansen and sophomore Sierra Mello lead the offense both went 2-3 with a home run.
Everytime the Spartans got on the board, the Wolf Pack answered back in the bottom half of the inning.
In the fourth inning, sophomore third baseman Georgia Blair seemed to hit her third home run of the year, but she passed teammate Desiree Reyes on the base paths. This led to an automatic out.
Blair was given credit for an RBI but the home run was changed to a single instead.
SJSU got closer in the sixth after a two-run RBI single from designated hitter Jacey Phipps to shorten the gap, 8-4. But, that was all the offense could do the rest of the way.
A win would have greatly helped the Spartans’ chances for first place.
Now, if SJSU is to become back-to-back Mountain West Conference champions:
Boise State has to lose at least two games out of three this weekend. This would force a tie. SJSU went 2-1 against Boise State this season.
Fresno State must lose at least one game this weekend. The Bulldogs have to sweep their weekend series to tie the Spartans. Fresno State would have the upper hand in this scenario because it swept SJSU this season.
The fate of SJSU is in the hands of their opponents who they will be watching all weekend long.
Follow Chris on Twitter @estradadotc