March 27, 2015
Fresno, Calif. - Senior Allison Lang pitched a three-hit complete game shutout and the San José State Spartans defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 1-0 on Friday night at Margie Wright Diamond.
"Alli was tremendous," said Spartans head coach Peter Turner. "Pitching and defensively we played very professionally. With this performance we may have seen the emergence of this team. They got the lead, and in a tight game, made the plays you have to make to win tough games against good teams."
After loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the first with a single and back-to-back walks, Lang was masterful. She struck out then next batter, for the second out of the inning, and then induced a ground out to end the threat.
After that, over the next six innings, Fresno State (22-11, 3-1 MW) managed two hits and one walk, and never got a runner beyond first base. In only two innings, the first and third, did Lang face more than the minimum.
Michelle Cox and Taylor Purdy each had a pair of hits and Sharon-Renae Estrada drove in the only run of the game.
Cox (2-for-4, R) led off the first with a double down the left field line. Two batters later she moved to third on a fly ball out to center and was driven in by Estrada (1-for-3, RBI) for a 1-0 Spartans (24-11, 4-0 MW) lead. From there Lang made it stand up.
On the craziest play of the game, Fresno State's Michelle Solomon singled through the left side with one out in the sixth. Left fielder Brittany Abacherli threw the ball to the cutoff, Taylor Purdy, who noticed Solomon wandering off the bag at first. She fired it to catcher Emma Entzminger who had been backing up first on the play. Entzminger applied the tag for the classic seven-to-four-to-two put out at first base.
Fresno State starter Jill Compton (13-8) was equally impressive. She allowed five hits and a lone run while striking out six. In addition to Solomon's single in the sixth, Malia Rivers had two of the Bulldogs three hits.
The three game series continues on Saturday evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Margie Wright Diamond. Fans that cannot attend the game can follow the action through Gametracker or watch on the Spartan Digital Network at www.sjsuspartans.com.
San Jose State 1, Fresno State 0 (Mar 27, 2015 at Fresno, Calif.)
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San Jose State...... 100 000 0 - 1 5 1 (24-11, 4-0 MW)
Fresno State........ 000 000 0 - 0 3 0 (22-11, 3-1 MW)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Lang, Allison and Entzminger, Emma.
Fresno State - COMPTON, J and GUMZ, P.
Win-LANG, Allison(8-5) Loss-COMPTON, J(13-8) T-1:28 pm A-896
Weather: 91, sunny