May 10, 2014
Fort Collins, Colo. - The San José State University softball team closed out the 2014 season with a bang, winning its final Mountain West series with 9-6 and 4-1 wins over Colorado State on Saturday.
The Spartans (30-24, 13-11 MW) conclude the season in a tie with the Rams (32-17, 13-11 MW) for fifth place in the Mountain West standings.
"After losing so many great athletes last year, we accomplished a lot of good things where other programs may have made excuses," head coach Peter Turner said. "We had a winning season, had a winning record in league and we won more series than we lost.
"There are more positives this season than the negatives and if we can improve our pitching, we'll be one of the top teams to deal with next season."
Yesterday's game was suspended after four-and-a-half due to darkness, with San José State leading Colorado State, 9-6. Allison Lang took over pitching duties from starter Madison Fish once the game resumed on Saturday, and, after allowing a leadoff hit, no-hit the game's remaining three innings.
The junior helped the Spartans out of a potentially dangerous situation in the sixth. Lang issued two walks and a groundout, the second out of the frame, put runners on second and third. But she fanned the inning's final batter, forcing the Rams to strand the pair of runners. In the seventh, a two-out Spartan error allowed Alysa Greckel to reach first but Lang retired her final batter for the 9-6 win.
San José State's 14 hits in the game gave them 21 games this season with double-digit hits, the most since 2007. The 2014 Spartans finish with the program's top team batting average at .302.
In the series finale, San José State's timely hitting in the fourth led to the game's first run scored. With two outs and runners on first and second, Casey Watt hit a single up the middle to plate Erin Rodriguez for the 1-0 score.
In the fifth, Jessie Hufstetler's 16th double of the season, and third of the series, built on San José State's lead. After a leadoff flyout, Devin Caldwell hit a double, followed by Casey Lester's single. With the pair on third and second, respectively, after Jessica Garcia's groudout, Hufstetler cleared the bases with a shot to right center for the 3-0 lead.
Kryn Masutani's solo homer in the sixth, her second of the season, extended the Spartans lead to 4-0.
However, Colorado State spoiled starter Allison Lang's shutout bid in the bottom of the frame. Leadoff Greckel singled on the first pitch she saw, and advanced to third after a walk and a flyout. With two outs, the Rams top hitter, Haley Hutton, sent the ball sailing in to center field to plate Greckel for the final 4-1 score.
In 5.1 innings of work in the series finale, Allison Lang (12-5) scattered seven hits, allowed one run and walked two. She finishes the season with a 5-1 record in Mountain West play.
Berlyn Rippentrop one-hit 1.1 innings in relief to earn her second save of the season.
Hufstetler showed dominance at the plate during the series. She batted .714 (5-for-7) with three doubles and drew three walks. She posted an astonishing 1.143 slugging percentage and drove in a team-best six runners.
Hufstetler's 16 doubles this season is tied for second in San José State softball history. She also finishes her sophomore year with the program's record for single-season batting average (.438), on base percentage (.547), slugging percentage (.656) and intentional walks (3).
"We expected Jessie (Hufstetler) to be a leading hitter and she surpassed our expectations," Turner said. "She's done a tremendous job at the plate and I wouldn't want to face her."
Garcia also finishes her final season as a Spartan with her name prominent in the record books. She drew four walks in the Colorado State series to set the career walks record (86). This year, she set the single-season record for RBI (53) and is tied for the most walks (35) in a season. Garcia's 17 career homers and 138 RBI are third and second in school history, respectively.
With the pair of wins on Saturday, the 2014 Spartans became the ninth team in program history to post a 30-win season after setting the record with 42 in 2013.
San Jose State 9, Colorado State 6 (May 09, 2014 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
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San Jose State...... 023 130 0 - 9 14 1 (29-24, 12-11)
Colorado State...... 040 200 0 - 6 9 1 (32-16, 13-10)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Fish, Madison; LANG, Allison(5) and Garcia, Jessica.
Colorado State - RANDLE, Molly; PETAKOFF, Larisa(2); REINKE, Holly(5) and MANZANARES, Jaelyn.
Win-LANG, Allison(11-5) Loss-REINKE, Holly(20-10)
HR CS - HUTTON, Haley.
San Jose State 4, Colorado State 1 (May 10, 2014 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
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San Jose State...... 000 121 0 - 4 8 0 (30-24, 13-11)
Colorado State...... 000 001 0 - 1 9 0 (32-17, 13-11)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Lang, Allison; LINFORD, Katelyn(6); RIPPENTROP, Berlyn(6) and
Garcia, Jessica. Colorado State - RANDLE, Molly; PETAKOFF, Larisa(7) and MANZANARES, Jaelyn;
POHL, Emily.
Win-LANG, Allison(12-5) Save-RIPPENTROP, Berlyn(2) Loss-RANDLE, Molly(5-3)
HR SJSU - Masutani, Kryn.
RANDLE faced 2 batters in the 7th.