By Nick Romeo — Reporter
San Jose State swept the Golden Gate Classic with five straight wins on the road in Lake Elsinore, outscoring the opposition 44-6.
The 5-0 performance gives the Spartans seven straight wins overall to improve to 7-2 on the season.
In their first matchup of the weekend against Bradley University (5-5), the Spartans won in blowout fashion, 11-0.
Sophomore Alyssa Graham hit a three-run shot in a big first inning where SJSU took an early lead with four runs.
Just about everyone got in on the action as seven players picked up at least one hit.
In the circle, starting pitcher Shannon Haddad silenced the Braves’ offense with a three-hit shutout.
SJSU again reached double digit runs as they took down Long Island University (5-5), later in Day 1, winning by the score of 10-2.
The Spartans distanced themselves on the strength of a four-run third inning, and SJSU scored 10 runs in the game with nine hits and nine walks.
SJSU experienced its closest game of the weekend in a 3-0 win against Seton Hall University (3-6).
Starting pitcher Caroline Bowman gave the Spartans a chance to win with six shutout innings while giving up just two hits. Senior Suzy Brookshire went deep and finished 2-for-3 to lead SJSU offensively.
Senior Makayla Englestad came up big defensively in the final inning, robbing the Pirates’ chance to get on the board by taking away a home run.
SJSU got back to lighting up the scoreboard in game four with a 10-3 win against Hawaii (4-7). Brookshire hit another home run, and the Spartans collected 12 hits as a team to overwhelm the Rainbow Warriors’ pitching staff.
After falling behind 3-0 early, the Spartans put up five runs in the third inning to pull away for good.
Entering Day 3 undefeated, SJSU defeated Portland State (3-7) by the score of 10-1.
Brookshire homered twice, making it three games in a row with home run, and four for the weekend. Ashley Machado also went deep for the Spartans as the team collected seven extra-base hits.
Making her second start of the weekend, Haddad (4-1) threw a complete game with six strikeouts to cap another impressive performance in the circle.
Haddad pitched in all five games while giving up just one run across 15.1 innings with 18 strikeouts. She earned three wins and one save to lead the Spartans’ pitching staff.
After dropping two close games to start the season, SJSU is back on track. Next up, the Spartans take on Canisius College (3-2) in a doubleheader for their home opener on Tuesday beginning at 4 p.m.
Follow Nick on Twitter @nromeo12
