By Casey Geier:
The Spartans started their season just about as perfectly as they could have hoped.
San Jose State was victorious in its first out-of-conference game of the season against Creighton 7-3 in the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona.
The Spartans’ senior pitcher Katelyn Linford had a spectacular game, throwing seven innings and only giving up 5 hits with a whopping 10 strikeouts. Linford was especially effective in two out situations, not allowing a single run in seven batters.
Sophomore Madison Aurin, who logged a .344 batting average last season and hit 10 HRs, also starred for the Spartans, hitting a homerun in the top of the first and finishing 1-3 with two RBIs.
The Spartans led the Bluejays four to three at the end of the second inning, and it was Linford’s excellent pitching and the Spartan’s clean fielding that shut out the Bluejays for the rest of the game.
SJSU is expected to have a formidable staff of senior pitchers (including Linford) but the other two, Emily Rogers and Colette Riggs, were not needed after Linford’s performance.
According to the 2017 preseason coaching polls, the Spartans are projected to finish in the top three in the Mountain West
The Spartans have five more games to go in the Kajikawa Classic and will matchup with Western Michigan later today.