March 21, 2017
San Jose, Calif. - In its first "home" games of the season, the San José State softball team hosts the Princeton Tigers in a doubleheader on Thursday at Mission College. The first game is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. with the second game set to begin at 2:00 p.m.
San José State Spartans (19-10)
vs.
Princeton Tigers (3-5)
March 23 - 12:00 p.m. & 2:00 p.m. (PT)
Mission College (250) - Santa Clara, Calif.
QUICK HITS
LINFORD MW PITCHER OF THE WEEK...AGAIN
For the second week in a row, Katelyn Linford (Sr., RHP, San Ramon, Calif.) is the toast of the all the Mountain West Conference hurlers. Linford posted a 2-1 record last week, which included the first no-hitter of her college career, and was named the conference Pitcher of the Week.
In the Spartans season-opening conference series against Nevada, Linford started each of the three games tossing 18.0 innings. The senior from San Ramon, Calif., struck out 25 Wolf Pack batters, surrendered nine hits, walked one and allowed five earned runs for a 1.94 ERA.
LINFORD NO-HITS NEVADA
Katelyn Linford (Sr., RHP, San Ramon, Calif.) tossed the first no-hitter of her collegiate career in the team's 8-0 five inning win over Nevada (3/18). She allowed two base runners (a hit batter in the second and a walk in the third for the only blemishes in her line), but did not allow them to advance past first base. She struck out seven in what was her seventh consecutive complete-game victory. The no-no was the 12th in SJSU Softball history.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Princeton enters the week with a 3-5 overall record. The team will play a doubleheader on Tuesday at Pacific, another doubleheader at Saint Mary's on Wednesday before facing the Spartans for two games on Thursday.
Its .310 team batting average is the best in the Ivy League but its 8.52 staff ERA ranks seventh among the eight teams in the league. In a small sample size, Kaylee Grant and Megan Donahey lead the team with a .500 batting average. Allison Harvey and Marissa Reynolds are the top run producers for the Tiger with 5 RBI as piece.
In the circle, Claire Klausner leads the team in innings pitched (19.1), wins (2) and starts (3) while opponents are batting .320 off her and her ERA is 5.79.
The Tigers are led by fifth-year head coach Lisa Van Ackeren, who brought an 85-97 career record into the 2017 season.
In the all-time series, San José State holds a 5-1 advantage. The Spartans dropped the first game, but has won the past five in a row. In games on the Spartans home field, SJSU is 3-1 and in two neutral site meeting, San José State is 2-0.
HOME IS WHERE THE SPARTANS ARE...
Every team holds an advantage when they play on their home field. It's where they practice and prepare for upcoming opponents. It's a field they are intimately familiar with and someplace that is familiar...it's home.
With the demolished SJSU Field a memory, the Spartans are going to call both Stockton, Calif. and Santa Clara, Calif. home for the 2017 season.
The first "home" series of the year was against Nevada (Mar. 17-19) and for record keeping purposes, it was be listed as a neutral site series, with the Spartans the designated home team.
The remainder of the team's home games are scheduled to be played at Mission College in Santa Clara.