April 2, 2017
San Diego, Calif. - The San Diego State Aztecs scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth innings to comeback and defeat the San José State softball team 7-6 on Sunday afternoon.
The Spartans (23-12, 3-3 MW) trailed 5-4 heading into the top of the seventh. Brittany Abacherli (2-for-4, 2R) singled to start the inning and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch from SDSU (20-14, 4-5 MW) reliever Alex Formby. Casey Watt (1-for-5, RBI) followed Abacherli to the plate and on an RBI single up the middle scored her from second to tie the game 5-5.
The score remained the same until the top of the ninth, when SJSU got the go-ahead run. With one out Georgia Blair walked and Cassidy Clark (3-for-5, RBI) followed her with a double down the left field line. Blair came all the way around to score but Clark, trying to stretch a double into a triple, was cut down at third. It would prove to be a critical play.
Alyssa Avila (1-of-4, R, RBI), who cracked her first home run of the year in the second inning to give SJSU a 2-0 lead, walked and was lifted for a pinch runner. Kaelin Amrein (2-for-3, RBI) then singled to left and Chelsea Jenner (3-for-5, R) followed Amrein with another single to load the bases. Clark could have scored the team's second run of the inning and seventh of the game on either Amrein or Jenner's hits, but San José State got just the single run and took a 6-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Colette Riggs, who entered the game in the sixth with SDSU leading 5-4, kept the Aztecs off the board for three innings, but in the ninth SDSU got to her.
A single and a pair of walks loaded the bases with no one out. She induced the next batter into a fielder's choice to Blair at short, who went home for the first out of the inning. The next batter hit a shallow fly ball to left for the second out, but things went south from there.
Riggs ran the count full on the next batter and then walked in the tying run. The Aztecs got the winning run on a liner up the middle, which Clark nearly caught. She dove to her right and got a glove on it, but it was a fraction of an inch out of her reach and SDSU got the victory 7-6 .
Jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the first three innings, the day started out looking like it would be the Spartans.
Abacherli led off the game with a ground rule double. Watt followed with a ground out to third and Abacherli moved up a base. But on the play the Aztecs' first baseman tried to throw Abacherli out, threw the ball away, and allowed Abacherli to score an unearned run.
In the second, Avila doubled the Spartans lead with a one-out solo shot to left. Two batters later, Jenner doubled followed by an RBI double from Emma Entzminger (2-for-5, RBI) to make it 3-0.
In the third, with two outs and two on, Amrein singled to left driving in SJSU's fourth run.
In the bottom of the inning, San Diego State cut the lead to 4-1. They tied the game in the fifth on a three-run homer and in the sixth got a leadoff homer to take the lead, 5-4. The first five SDSU runs went on Spartans' starter Katelyn Linford's line. She gave up nine hits and struck out three before coming out in the fifth.
Riggs (5-3) took the loss. She tossed 3.2 innings giving up four hits and two runs, but walked six. Formby replaced SDSU starter Erica Romero, who lasted just 1.2 innings and gave up the firs three runs. Formby (6-3) went a season-high 7.1 innings scattered 11 hits and walked four, but gave up just three runs to earn the win.
San Diego State 7, San Jose State 6 (Apr 2, 2017 at San Diego, Calif.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
San Jose State...... 121 000 101 - 6 15 0 (23-12, 3-3 MW)
San Diego State..... 001 031 002 - 7 13 3 (20-14, 4-5 MW)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: San Jose State - Linford, Katelyn; RIGGS, Colette(6) and Avila, Alyssa.
San Diego State - ROMERO; FORMBY(2) and PERES.
Win-FORMBY(6-3) Loss-RIGGS, Colette(5-3) T-2:45 A-302
HR SJ - Avila, Alyssa (1).
HR SDSU - BYRD (3); CABLE (4).
Weather: 72 degrees, sunny
LINFORD faced 1 batter in the 6th.
Game: SJ-SD3