By Madyson Montoya — Staff Writer
San Jose State softball (3-2) was unable to carry over Friday’s winning momentum into Saturday as it dropped both of its games on the second day of the Lion Classic I.
The first game of the day against Southern Illinois (2-2) is where the Spartans dropped the momentum immediately. The game was scoreless for the first two innings until the Salukis broke up the tie with two runs in the third.
Freshman infielder Alyssa Graham cut the deficit to 2-1 with an RBI double that scored junior infielder Makayla Englestad. That would be the only run the Spartans would get across the plate.
Southern Illinois went on to to score four more times in the fifth inning, securing a Spartan 6-1 defeat.
Although the second game resulted in a loss as well, the Spartans did put more of a fight against Nicholls State University.
Both teams only had six hits throughout the game, but the Colonels maximized on their opportunities better than the Spartans.
No action was present until the fourth inning where juniors Georgia Blair and Kaelin Amrein each hit a homerun, taking the 2-0 lead.
The Colonels answered back right away to tie the game 2-2 in the fifth inning. SJSU did a good job at holding them to that score through the sixth inning.
The team gave up one more run that gave Nicholls State the upper hand in the top of the seventh. Being unable to score in the final inning is what ensured a one-run loss for the Spartans, 3-2.
Freshman pitcher Jenessa Ullegue had an amazing performance on the mound against the Colonels by striking out eight batters. She proved to be incapable of walking anyone.
Despite the double defeat, the Spartans did have some positive points throughout the day. They will have to stay on point defensively throughout all seven innings in the final game to get one more victory.
SJSU will get one more chance to redeem itself against Nicholls State before the end of the tournament. The game will take place on Sunday at 8 a.m.
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