By Sara Biela — Executive Editor
A four-spot inning catapulted Colorado State (28-4, 10-0 MW) to a 5-2 victory over San Jose State (25-11, 5-2 MW) Friday afternoon at Spartan Softball Field.
The Rams plated four unearned runs on five hits to take the lead and keep it for good.
“They got a couple bleeders that fell in,” said head coach Peter Turner. “I don’t think we played aggressive enough … They deserved to win and we didn’t.”
SJSU fell into a 1-0 deficit in the third inning as CSU’s Tara Shadowen hit her sixth home run of the season.
Infielder Rayohna Sagapolu helped the Spartans respond in the fourth. The sophomore plated two runs with a double to right center.
The team’s 2-1 lead didn’t stick around for long as the Rams scored four runs in the fifth. They tied the game at 2 off an error made by junior infielder Cassidy Clark.
CSU’s Danni Klein gave her team a 3-2 advantage with a single to right field. She later scored its fourth run on an RBI double from Corina Gamboa.
Lauren Buchanan continued the hitting spur and made it 5-2 Rams with an RBI double down the left field line.
The Spartans left eight runners on base as the Rams extended their winning streak to 19 games.
“No big hits at the right time and we couldn’t move the ball,” Turner said. “We didn’t execute well enough to win.”
Sophomore pitcher Caroline Bowman (9-5) tossed 4.1 innings and gave up 5 runs (1 earned) on 9 hits.
Freshman Chrys Hildebrand came in relief in the fifth and threw 2.1 shut out innings. She allowed no hits and struck out 3.
SJSU will look to even up the series Saturday at 12 p.m.
“We know the trends of the pitchers now, so we’ll look out for those this weekend and I think we’ll be successful that way,” Sagapolu said.
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