San Jose, Calif.—Rayohna Sagapolu drove in both Spartan runs, but a San José State error in the fourth inning allowed Mountain West leader Colorado State to score four runs en route to a 5-2 win Friday afternoon at the Spartan Softball Complex.
Sagapolu broke out of an eight-game hitting slump by going 2-for-3 from the plate. She hit doubles in the third and fourth innings. Her double in the fourth drove Cassidy Clark and Madison Aurin for the only Spartan runs of the game. Clark had reached by with a single, and Aurin followed that up with her ninth double of the season.
The Spartans had a 2-1 lead heading into the fifth inning when a costly error allowed the Rams to score four runs and take the lead for good at 5-2. Spartan pitcher Caroline Bowman got the first two outs of the inning before allowing a double to the Rams.
Bowman then got the next batter to hit a grounder to Clark, but a bobble allowed the runner to be safe. The next four Rams hitters got a hit and four runs were plated before Spartan Chrys Hildebrand replaced Bowman and got the final out of the inning.
Hildebrand held the Rams hitless for her 2.1 innings pitched, striking out three of the seven batters faced.
"Ray got out of a slump today and that was nice to see," said head coach Peter Turner. "We didn't execute and left too many people on base. We had chances. I thought Bo made enough pitches to keep us in the game. We didn't execute a ground ball that we normally do and we weren't aggressive enough in the outfield that inning (fifth)."
The two teams continue the series on Saturday with a noon game at Spartan Softball Field.