By Nancy Castaneda and Aniyah Cusseaux — Staff Writers
A three-run sixth inning helped San Jose State softball (12-9) beat Bucknell University (7-11) Tuesday night, 4-2.
Down by one run entering the sixth, freshman left fielder Jenessa Ullegue gave the Spartans a 3-2 lead by singling in junior infielder Cassidy Clark. Sophomore infielder Rayohna Sagapolu also scored on the play on an error made by Bisons’ left fielder.
Freshman infielder Alyssa Graham gave SJSU an insurance run by singling to third base that scored Ullegue.
“We sat back and watched our pitches,” Graham said. “We battled when we got two strikes and made contact with good pitches.”
The Spartans had a good start and scored a run early in the second inning as senior outfielder Kristen Heffley drew a bases loaded walk.
The team went scoreless for three innings as the Bisons took the 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.
Sophomore Caroline Bowman was credited with her fifth win of the season as she allowed 5 hits and struck out 3 in 7.0 innings pitched.
“I knew we were going to have a lot of ground balls and the defense had my back,” she said. “To score three runs in that one inning was really big and shifted the momentum.”
SJSU will seek to improve its season as it begins the Spartan Invitational on Thursday against University of Massachusetts.
Follow Aniyah and Nancy on Twitter @ACusseaux@NancyAlexandra_