March 9, 2017
Katelyn Linford has gone 17.2 innings in the circle, scattered 10 hits and given up just one earned run for a 0.51 ERA in three wins this week. - Davis, Calif. â€" Head Coach Peter Turner guided his Spartans to victories over Pacific, Seton Hall and UC Davis in the last two days and in doing so reached the 300-career win milestone.
Turner is the first head coach in the history of San José State softball to reach the 300-victory plateau and got there, this week, behind the pitching of senior Katelyn Linford.
Linford has been dominant earning three victories in two starts and a total of three appearances. She has spent 17.2 innings in the circle, has scattered 10 hits and given up just one earned run for a 0.51 ERA. The Walnut Creek native has struck out 15 while walking just two batters and is 9-2 on the season, just one win away from her single-season career high which she set last season.
SAN JOSÉ STATE 7, PACIFIC 0
Linford pitched a complete-game four hitter with six strikeouts on Wednesday afternoon. Three of the Tigers four hits, all singles, came in the second inning. With a pair of singles wrapped around a strikeout, the Tigers got a third single. The runner on second tried to score but was cut down at the plate by a perfect throw from leftfielder Chelsea Jenner to Alexandra Luna at the plate who applied the tag. Linford ended the threat and the inning with a strikeout.
In the third the Spartan (12-9) put up a three-spot. With one out, Emma Enztminger (0-of-2, 2R) was hit; stole second and then scored an unearned run on an error by the UOP second baseman. The error was committed on a sac bunt attempts by Kristen Heffley. Heffley was lifted for pinch runner Makayla Englestad.
Englestad moved into scoring position on a passed ball and after a hit batter and walk the Spartans has the bases loaded. Madison Aurin, the next batter, then reached on an error by the pitcher allowing Englestad to score. Two batters later, Casey Watt scored the third run on a wild pitch.
In the fourth, Watt (2-of-3, R, RBI) drove in Entzminger who had gotten on by an error and stolen second to move into scoring position.
In the fifth, the Spartans put the first two batters on with singles and moved the runners into scoring position with a groundout. With pinch runner Julia Gallegos on third and Georgia Blair on second, Alyssa Avila hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Gallegos to make it 5-0.
With Brittany Abacherli on first and Kaelin Amrein (0-of-1, R) on second with two outs in the sixth, Aurin (1-of-4, RBI) singled in the sixth run.
In the seventh, Janessa Lozano (1-of-1, R) got a one-out single. Two batters later, the Spartans had Lozano on third and Entzminger on first. Entzminger stole second and on a throwing error by the Tigers catcher Lozano scored the seventh and final run.
Linford set the UOP batters down in order to secure the 7-0 win.
San Jose State 7, Pacific 0 (Mar 08, 2017 at Stockton, Calif.)
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San Jose State...... 003 111 1 - 7 8 1 (12-9)
Pacific............. 000 000 0 - 0 4 5 (10-10)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Linford, Katelyn and Luna, Alexandra. Pacific - REED; LINDSTROM(5)
and SELLERS; REYNOLDS.
Win-LINFORD, Katelyn(7-2) Loss-REED(3-2) T-1:53 A-179
Weather: 66, sunny, clear
Game: SJ-UOP
SAN JOSÉ STATE 6, SETON HALL 5 (8)
The Spartans spotted the Seton Hall Pirates four first-inning runs, but came back late to win 6-5 in eight innings.
SJSU (13-9) starter Emily Rogers struggled through two-thirds of an inning. She gave up three hits and walked three allowing four runs. Kacie Gresenz came in with two outs and walked the first batters she faced but then got a strikeout to end the inning.
The Spartans had runners on in the second and third, but didn't get on the scoreboard until the fourth. Madison Aurin (2-of-5, R) led off with a single and stole second. Gerogia Blair (2-of-3, 2R, RBI, 2B) then doubled in Aurin to cut the lead to 4-1. Alyssa Avila (1-of-3, R, RBI, 2B) followed Blair with an RBI double of her own and the lead was down to 4-2.
Seton Hall got a leadoff triple, which came around to score, in its half of the fourth to make it 5-2.
The Spartans made it 5-3 in the fifth on a Brittany Abacherli RBI double. The hit drove in Chelsea Jenner (1-of-2, R) who had singled earlier in the inning.
In the sixth, SJSU tied it up. They put their first three batters on with a leadoff single and a pair of walks. Emma Entzminger (1-fo-3, R, RBI) drove in the first run on a fielder's choice. She then stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Two batters later, Casey Watt (1-of-3, 2RBI) hit a sacrifice fly to tie it at 5-5.
Gresenz got the first out in the sixth and was lifted in favor of Linford. She left after pitching 4.2 innings allowing two hits and one run. Linford struck out the two batters she faced to end the sixth and picked up two more strikeouts in the seventh while stranding the potential winning run on third.
In the eighth, the game went to an international tiebreaker. The Spartans started the inning with Entzminger on second. She moved to third on a groundout to the right side. Casey Watt then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field and with a play at the plate, Entzminger slid in under the tag to score what would be the game winner.
In the Pirates half of the eighth, Linford started them off with a fly out. The runner on second then wandered off the bag a bit to far and was picked off by a dart from catcher Alyssa Avila to Cassidy Clark who was covering at second.
Linford (8-2), who ended then game with a strikeout, earned the win in relief tossing 2.2 innings of one-hit ball and striking out five.
San Jose State 6, Seton Hall 5 (Mar 09, 2017 at Davis, Calif.)
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San Jose State...... 000 212 01 - 6 11 1 (13-9)
Seton Hall.......... 400 100 00 - 5 6 0 (8-6)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - Rogers, Emily; GRESENZ, Kacie(1); LINFORD, Katelyn(6) and
Avila, Alyssa. Seton Hall - Camp; Head(5); Fischer(7) and Peck.
Win-LINFORD, Katelyn(8-2) Loss-Fischer(2-2) T-2:24 A-0
Weather: 64 degrees, wind 5 N
Game: SJ-SH
UC DAVIS 2, SAN JOSÉ STATE 3, (8)
Katelyn Linford and UC Davis' Andrea Reynolds conducted a pitchers duel in the final game of Thursday's action. Each pitcher gave up five hits and a single earned run. Linford struck out four Aggies while Reynolds set down three Spartans.
Through five and a half innings, the teams combined for five hits. Each team was able to get just one runner in scoring position but failed to drive them in.
In the sixth, the Spartans (14-9) scratched out the first run of the game. Casey Watt (2-of-4, 2R, RBI) got a one-out single down the left field line, but the Aggies fielder misplayed the ball which turned into a two base error and the Spartans were set up with a runner on third. A groundout by Madison Aurin couldn't get Watt home. Kristen Heffley, a pinch hitter, then walked. Georgia Blair reached base on a throwing error by the UC Davis shortstop, which plated Watt and staked San Jose State to a 1-0 lead.
UCD got the run back in the top of the seventh. They got a leadoff double and the runner advanced to third on a wild pitch. The next batter hit a sac fly to score the tying run. After the Spartans went down in order in the bottom of the frame, SJSU was headed to its second international tiebreaker in as many games.
The Aggies, who began the inning with a runner on second, moved her to third on Linford's second wild pitch of the game. A ground out by the next batter scored the go-ahead run and the game went to the bottom of the eighth with UC Davis up 2-1.
Entzminger (1-of-3, R) started the inning at second. She scored the tying run two batters later on a Casey Watt single to the gap in right center. On the throw to the plate, Watt moved into scoring. A pitch then hit Madison Aurin and the Spartans had runners on first and second.
Here is where it got strange.
The next batter, Alexandra Luna was awarded first base on a walk by the home plate umpire. The call loaded the bases, however, the UC Davis head coach appealed that the count was actually 3-2 and Luna should not have been given a base on balls. After consultation with the other two umpires, Luna was returned to the batters box with a 3-2 count, but the base runners remained at second and third and were credited with stolen bases. Luna struck out, but Georgia Blair (1-of-4, RBI) singled in the next at bat and drove in the game winning run and Turner's 300th win.
San Jose State 3, UC Davis 2 (Mar 09, 2017 at Davis, Calif.)
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UC Davis............ 000 000 11 - 2 5 2 (7-14)
San Jose State...... 000 001 02 - 3 5 1 (14-9)
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Pitchers: UC Davis - Reynolds, A. and Carney, A.. San Jose State - Linford, Katelyn and
Win-LINFORD, Katelyn(9-2) Loss-Reynolds, A.(3-6) T-1:53 A-0
Weather: 72 degrees, wind 1 N
Game: UCD-SJ
The Spartans, with wins against Seton Hall and host UC Davis, swept day one of the Aggie Invitational. Play continues on Friday with games against UMass (11:00 a.m.) and a rematch with UC Davis (1:15 p.m).