Feb. 25, 2017
Phoenix, Ariz. - The San Jose State softball team finished the GCU Invitational with a 3-2 record after splitting its final two games; a 10-0 win over Portland State and a 3-2 loss to Grand Canyon.
SAN JOSE STATE 10, PORTLAND STATE 0 (5 INNINGS)
For the second time in as many days the Spartans shut out the Portland State Vikings and ended the game in five innings. On Friday it was an 8-0 final score and on Saturday SJSU won 10-0.
Katelyn Linford (5-1) went the distance striking out eight and allowing just one hit. She set the Vikings down in order in the first two innings and three of the five in the game. Portland State's hit, a single, came with one out in the fourth, but Linford kept her at first with a strike out and foul out.
The only trouble she faced came in the third. With one out, a runner reached base on a fielding error by first baseman Madison Aurin. Two batters later Linford hit a batter to move a runner into scoring position, but Linford induced a groundout to end the threat.
Offensively, San Jose State (8-6) scored two in the first, five in the third and three more in the fifth.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Alyssa Avila (1-for-2, 3RBI) smacked a two-run single to right to stake SJSU to a 2-0 lead.
In the third the Spartans blew the game open. Casey Watt (1-for-3, R) got things started with a triple. Three batters later, with Watt on second and Aurin on first after a walk, Makayla Englestad (1-for-2, R, RBI) doubled down the right field line plating Watt and moving Aurin to third. After a pitching change, Avila hit a sacrifice fly to right to drive in her third run of the game, which gave SJSU a 4-0 lead.
Georgia Blair (1-for-3, 2R, 2RBI) reached base on a fielding error by the Portland State shortstop allowing Englestad to score. Cassidy Clark (1-for-2, R, 2RBI, HR) followed Blair with a two-run home run, which made the score 7-0 after two and a half innings
In the fifth, Aurin led off with a single, moved to second on a groundout and made it to third on a wild pitch. With runners on first and third, Blair doubled to left plating both base runners. Two batters later Daisy Conchas (1-for-2, RBI) singled in Blair for the final run for the Spartans.
San Jose State 10, Portland State 0 (Feb 25, 2017 at Phoenix,Ariz.)
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San Jose State...... 205 03 - 10 8 1 (8-6)
Portland State...... 000 00 - 0 1 3 (0-8)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Linford, Katelyn and Avila, Alyssa. Portland State - BURK, A;
DETAMORE, E(3) and SELF, H.
Win-LINFORD, Katelyn(5-1) Loss-BURK, A(0-4) T-1:30 A-53
HR SJ - Clark, Cassidy (1).
Weather: Sunny, 50
Game: SJ-PSU2
GRAND CANYON 3, SAN JOSE STATE 2
The Spartans scored runs in the first and second inning and held a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but the Antelopes scored twice in the frame and escaped a bases loaded jam in the seventh to defeat SJSU for the second time in two days.
San Jose State (8-7) loaded the bases with a pair of singles sandwiched around a one-out walk. Alexandra Luna (0-for-2, RBI) then hit a sacrifice fly to left to plate the first run.
In the second, Georgia Blair (2-for-2, R, 2RBI, HR) led off with a homer to left center to make it 2-0.
Kacie Gresenz, the Spartans' starter, allowed a hit in each of the first three innings without incident, but in the fourth GCU opened with back-to-back singles putting runners on the corners. Katelyn Linford came in from the bullpen and surrendered a single to her first batter, which drove in Grand Canyon's first run.
In the sixth, Linford (5-2) got the first two batters, but then gave up back-to-back solo home runs making the score 3-2.
SJSU's seventh began with a groundout, but then Casey Watt and Brittany Abacherli were hit in successive at bats. A groundout moved the runners to second and third and after Luna walked, the bases were loaded with two outs. Alyssa Avila drove a ball to left field but it was caught and the game ended with San Jose State on the wrong end of a 3-2 decision.
Grand Canyon 3, San Jose State 2 (Feb 25, 2017 at Phoenix, Ariz.)
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San Jose State...... 110 000 0 - 2 7 0 (8-7)
Grand Canyon........ 000 102 X - 3 9 1 (14-1)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Gresenz, Kacie; LINFORD, Katelyn(4) and Luna, Alexandra.
Grand Canyon - Nowlin,T; Aguilar,B(5) and Hill,K.
Win-Aguilar,B(4-0) Save-Nowlin,T(1) Loss-LINFORD, Katelyn(5-2) T-1:47 A-403
HR SJ - Blair, Georgia (1).
HR GCU - Boling,B (3); Stevens,M (1).
Weather: Sunny, 55 degrees
GRESENZ faced 2 batters in the 4th.
Game: SJ-GCU2