Feb. 17, 2017
Las Vegas, Nev. - Katelyn Linford picked up her third win in as many starts and Chelsea Jenner drove in three runs as the San José State softball team split its first two games at the DiMarini Desert Classic on Friday. The Spartans defeated Southern Utah 11-2 in five innings in the afternoon, but lost to Hawai'i 3-0 earlier in the day.
"We split the day, so that was good and I was pleased with our defense for the most part," Head Coach Peter Turner said, "but our pitchers allowed runners on in virtually every inning and that is something that must stop. We got away with it today against Southern Utah, but against Hawai'i it came back to bite us."
SAN JOSÉ STATE 11, SOUTHERN UTAH 2 (5 INNINGS)
Five Spartans had multi-hit games and SJSU racked up 12 hits and 11 runs for the second time in three games.
San Jose State (4-4) put up a five spot in the second inning after its first five batters reached base safely. Alexandra Luna (2-of-3, R, 2RBI) led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Alyssa Avila drove in the first run on a single to center followed by singles by Cassidy Clark and Emma Entzminger. Chelsea Jenner (2-of-3, R, 3RBI) doubled to left driving in two and making the score 3-0. Mackenzie Drake then doubled in a run and Jenner, who was on third after Drake's hit, scored on a wild pitch to make it 5-0.
Southern Utah (1-4) struck back with a run in the bottom of the inning cutting the SJSU lead to 5-1.
In the third, Spartans' bats put four more runs on the board. With the based loaded and nobody out, Entzminger (2-of-3, 2R, RBI) singled in a run. Jenner followed Entzminger with an RBI single. Drake hit a sacrifice fly for the third run and Entzminger scored on a fielding error by the Thunderbirds third baseman.
SUU got another run in the fourth to make it 9-2 and the Spartans finished the scoring in the top of the fifth with two more runs. With two outs and runners on second and third, Luna drove in two on a single to center for the final margin of 11-2
Avila (2-of-3, R, RBI) and Clark (2-of-2, 2R) were the other Spartans with multiple hits.
Linford pitched 4.0 innings, scattering six hits and walking five. She struck out three batters. Colette Riggs came out of the pen in relief and struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth.
San Jose State 11, Southern Utah 2 (Feb 17, 2017 at Las Vegas, Nev.)
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San Jose State...... 054 02 - 11 12 1 (4-4)
Southern Utah....... 010 10 - 2 6 2 (1-4)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Linford, Katelyn; RIGGS, Colette(5) and Avila, Alyssa;
Luna, Alexandra. Southern Utah - CUDAHY, C; WALL, H(2); WYNN, H(3) and LEONARD, M.
Win-LINFORD, Katelyn(3-0) Loss-CUDAHY, C(0-1) T-1:58 A-300
Weather: Overcast
CUDAHY, C faced 6 batters in the 2nd.
WALL, H faced 5 batters in the 3rd.
LINFORD faced 2 batters in the 5th.
Game: SJ-SUU
HAWAI'I 3, SAN JOSÉ STATE 0
In the first game of the day, the Rainbow Wahine limited the Spartans (3-4) to four hits and scored all the runs they would need in the top of the third inning.
Casey Gresenz (0-2), who threw 4.1 innings, allowed nine hits and three runs in the game. Hawai'I had runners in scoring position in the first and second innings, but Gresenz worked her way out of it.
In the third Hawai'i (3-2) struck. They opened with a single and moved the runner into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. After a flyout and with the runner on third, a single to left scored the first run. The next batter homered to make it 3-0.
From there UH pitcher Brittany Hitchcock (2-2) cruised for the win. She gave up four singles to earn her second win of the season.
Hawaii 3, San Jose State 0 (Feb 17, 2017 at Las Vegas, Nev.)
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Hawaii.............. 003 000 0 - 3 12 2 (3-2)
San Jose State...... 000 000 0 - 0 4 0 (3-4)
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Pitchers: Hawaii - Hitchcock, B and Cameron, H.. San Jose State - Gresenz, Kacie;
ROGERS, Emily(5) and Luna, Alexandra; /.
Win-Hitchcock, B(2-2) Loss-GRESENZ, Kacie(0-2) T-1:43 A-0
HR UH - Heen, C..
Weather: rainy
Game: UH-SJ
The Spartans play BYU and Idaho State on Saturday in day two of the DiMarini Desert Classic.