Feb. 19, 2016
Las Vegas, Nev. - The San Jose State softball team's early season struggles continued on Friday losing a pair of games in the DiMarini Classic. SJSU lost 4-0 to Utah and 13-2 to Wichita State.
UTAH 4, SJSU 0
In the first game of the day the Spartans got good pitching performances from a pair of freshman, Chantelle Ladner and Ashley Penney
Ladner (0-3) went five innings, scattering five hits, giving up four runs, only two of which were earned. Penney came on for an inning of shutout relief.
"I though overall we played well against Utah," head coach Peter Turner said. "I was happy with the way Chantelle threw. She gave up couple of solo (home runs), but she did her job. It should have been enough to win. My biggest issue is she got no run support."
The Spartans had six hits in the game and runners on base in five innings, but couldn't get a hit to swing momentum in their favor. Taylor Purdy went 3-for-3, including a double to lead the team.
Brittany Abacherli and Jessica Madrid each contributed singles and with double down the right field line in the top of the first, Jessie Hufstetler became the Spartans all-time leader in that category. With 43 doubles, Hufstetler broke a tie with Veronica Ramos, who had 42 in her career.
In addition to solo shots off Ladner in the first and fourth innings, Utah, which has held to six hits, scored unearned runs in the third and sixth.
WICHITA STATE 13, SJSU 2
For the third time in eight games the Spartans suffered a run-rule defeat.
"We just plain unraveled in the fourth and fifth innings," Turner said. "We are trying a lot of different combinations out there to try and find one that will work and translate into wins. We just need to put a couple together we will be alright."
The Shockers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a solo homer off starter Katelyn Linford.
SJSU got the run back in the third. Brittany Abacherli, the team's hottest hitter, led off with a single to center. She stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kristen Heffley singled Abacherli in on a single to right to knot it up a 1-1.
The tie was short lived. Linford gave the runs right back on a two-out walk followed by a two-run homer in the top of the fourth to make it 3-1 Shockers.
In the fifth, Wichita State blew the game open. They sent 11 batters to the plate, scored six runs on six hits to lead 9-1.
In the bottom of the frame, Alyssa Avila led off with a double. An Abacherli single put runners on the corners and a Chelsea Jenner groundout scored Avila to make it 9-2 and temporarily avoided the run rule loss.
In the sixth, Wichita State added four more runs on four hits and three Spartan errors for the final score of 13-2.
Linford (0-4) tossed four innings and gave up seven runs, all earned, on seven hits. Penney went one inning. She allowed five hits and six runs, just one of which was earned. Collette Riggs pitched one innings and held the Shockers off the scoreboard.
The Spartans try to turn things around on Saturday with games against Portland State and UTEP.