***Time Change for Nevada Series - Please note - Due to sun issues experienced in the first game of the Utah State series, the start time for the San José State-Nevada game on May 9 has been moved to 3 p.m., at the Spartan Softball Field.
at New Mexico
12-35, 3-15 MW
May 3 - 6:00 p.m. MT/5:00 p.m. PT
May 4 - 4:00 p.m. MT/3:00 p.m. PT
May 5 - 11:00 a.m. MT/10:00 a.m. PT
Lobo Softball Field - Albuquerque, N.M.
San José State hits the road for the final time in the regular season as the Spartans travel to Albuquerque for a three-game Mountain West series at New Mexico this weekend. The Spartans enter the series with a 32-15 overall record and are in second in the MW standings with a 12-6 record.
LIVE STATS: All three days - https://golobos.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
VIDEO: Friday - https://player.watchstadium.com/webapp/sanjose/index.html#/live/168603?school=121&live_section=1&archive_section=1
Saturday - https://player.watchstadium.com/webapp/sanjose/index.html#/live/168736?school=121&live_section=1&archive_section=1
Sunday - https://player.watchstadium.com/webapp/sanjose/index.html#/live/168741?school=121&live_section=1&archive_section=1
The Spartans swept Utah State in a home MW series last weekend. The team won 5-0 on Friday, 3-2 on Saturday and 6-3 on Sunday. SJSU enters the weekend with a five-game winning streak and have won the past two MW series at UNLV and home with Utah State.
QUICK HITS
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
New Mexico enters the series with a 12-35 overall record and a 3-15 Mountain West record, and in ninth place in the MW standings. The Lobos bring a six-game losing streak into the weekend. The team's last win was on April 18 when they beat Boise State 7-4.
The Lobos are hitting .239 with 274 hits and 184 runs scored. They have hit 54 doubles, eight triples and 33 home runs.The team has walked 173 times while struck out 367 times. The Lobos have only stolen 10 bases on 13 attempts.
Cameryn O'Grady is the team leader in almost every hitting category with a her .352 batting average. She had 44 hits, 32 runs scored, 26 RBI, 15 doubles and six home runs. O'Grady had walked 30 times this season.
In the circle, the Lobos have a 6.69 ERA with 181 strikeouts in 281.2 innings pitched. The pitching staff is led by Kennedy Ferguson who leads the team with a 4.97 ERA and 68 strikeouts. She has a 4-13 record in 30 appearances with 19 games started and nine complete games. Kiana Spencer has a 6-15 record in 108 innings pitched with a 6.61 ERA. She has made 20 starts in her 30 appearances this season. Bailey Klitzke has pitched 50 innings with a 2-7 record in 23 appearances and eight games started with a 9.74 ERA.
New Mexico has a .946 fielding percentage, having committed 65 errors on the season. They team has only turned five double plays this season.
Head coach Paula Congleton is in her second year at the helm of the program.
San José State leads the overall series, 20-16, dating back to the 1987 season. The Spartans have won the past 10 meetings in the series including a sweep last year with the first three games at the Spartan Softball Field.
SUN IS BLINDING
This being the first full season of action at the Spartan Softball Field, San José State had a unique situation this past Friday night in the game with Utah State. The first night game played in April had a 27-minute delay due to the sun. With the sun setting, the hitters, catchers and umpires could not see the ball and proved to be a dangerous situation for all. A delay was called until the sun set enough to make it safe for all players.
BOW TOSSES A NO-NO
Caroline Bowman became the 13th player in program history to throw a no-hitter when she defeated the UMass Lowell River Hawks 5-0 on March 15. Bowman faced one batter over the minimum, and, if not for her own fielding error in the second inning, she would have tossed a perfect game. In the contest, the down-ball pitcher had one strikeout and recorded 18 of the other 20 outs on the infield. It is Bowman's first no-hitter as a collegiate pitcher.
MOUNTAIN WEST ACTION
San José State currently is in second place in the Mountain West standings with a 12-6 record, behind Colorado State who is 17-4 in league play. The Spartans have two conference series remaining - this weekend at New Mexico and next weeks home games with Nevada. The Rams wrap up the MW schedule by traveling to Boise State. SJSU is just one game ahead of Fresno State in the standings as the Bulldogs are 11-7.
San José State has never finished lower than fifth in the MW standings, with the fifth-place finish coming the first year the school joined the conference (2014, T45th, 13-11). Since then, the team won the MW in 2017 (16-8), finished second twice, 2018 (16-8) and 2016 (17-7) and was third in 2015 (17-7).
CAN'T STRIKE US OUT
Two Spartans rank in the top-100 nationally in toughest to strikeout out (through games played Tuesday 4/16.) Cassidy Clark ranks as the 59th toughest to strikeout out, happening just once every 19.7 at bats. Madison Aurin is the 100th toughest to strikeout in the nation, striking out just once every 17.0 at bats. This season, Clark has struck out seven times, while Aurin has been struck out eight times.
ULLEGUE LEADING THE TEAM, MW
Freshman Jenessa Ullegue is making a difference not only on the Spartan team but in the Mountain West as well. The all-around player leads the team's hitters with a .346 batting average, .510 slugging percentage and .425 on-base percentage. Ullegue enters the weekend with 36 hits, 20 runs scored, six doubles, three home runs and a triple.
In the circle, she leads the MW and the team in ERA at 1.98. She has a 15-4 record in 26 appearances with 15 games started and 12 complete games. Ullegue has pitched four shut outs and saved four games. Her 116.2 innings pitched top the team, as do her 93 strikeouts, and her .219 opponents batting average is best on the staff.
Ullegue Shut Outs
Feb. 22 vs. Ball State 5-0
Feb. 24 vs. CSU Bakersfield 6-0
March 10 vs. Weber State 10-0
April 26 vs. Utah State 5-0
When she is not pitching, she can usually be found playing in the outfield. Ullegue is perfect in the field in 36 chances with 20 putouts and 16 assists.
CLARK'S SOLID SEASON, CAREER
Cassidy Clark is a mainstay at second base for the Spartans. She has started 46 of the 47 games at second and has a .984 fielding percentage with 107 putouts, 75 assists and three errors.
At the plate, Clark is hitting .304 with a team-best 42 hits in 138 at bats, 16 runs scored and a team-high 11 doubles. She is usually third in the Spartan batting order (36 games) but has also been in the second and fifth slots.
Clark is also making her mark on the San José State career hitting record books. She begins the week in fifth all-time in batting average at .351, 13th in slugging percentage at .453, third in on-base percentage at .448, 10th in walks with 67, tied for fourth in hit by pitch at 16 and tied for third in sacrifice flies at nine.
Clark is also sprinkled among the best fielders in school history. She is 13th in assists with 284 and second in double plays turned with 48.
MORE FRESHMEN, MORE PRODUCTION
Alyssa Graham and Arianna Miranda are two more freshmen who have made an impact on the 2019 Spartans.
Graham has solidified her self at third base as she has started 31 games on the corner. She is hitting .286 with 30 hits, 11 runs scored, nine doubles and three home runs.
Miranda has started in 38 games, whether in right field (19), designated player (8), first base (6), left field (4) and catcher (1). She is fifth in hitting (.286) , hits (34) and RBI (15) and has six doubles and three home runs.
REGULAR PLAYING TIME WAS ALL IT TOOK
In her first two years Makayla Englestad made just nine starts and 65 total appearances and batted .237 (9-for-38). She scored 25 runs, mostly as a pinch runner, and appeared mostly as a late-inning defensive replacement.
Fast-forward to 2019, Englestad has stared 43 of her 47 games played. She has 24 starts in left field, 13 in center and one in right and has been the team's leadoff hitter in 32 games.
This season, she is hitting .261 (30-for-115) with five doubles, three triples and has 10 RBI. She has a .357 slugging percentage and a .370 on base percentage which includes 17 walks, is 5-for-7 in stolen base attempts and leads the squad with 20 runs scored.
LONGEST GAME OF THE YEAR
There is something in the air whenever San José State and UNLV play each other. This year, the Spartans played one of the longest games in school history, time-wise, when the teams met on Friday, April 19. SJSU won the game 5-3 in 12 innings, as the game took 3:24 to play. Alyssa Avila came off the bench to drive in eventual winning pitcher Jenessa Ullegue from second base.
That game is the longest game of the year for SJSU by 44 minutes over the second-longest game.
The 12 innings are also the longest game, by innings, for SJSU since the Spartans and Rebels played on March 28, 2014, at SJSU Field. The teams played 12 innings that day, with UNLV coming away with a 6-4 win.
In the record books, the longest game in school history is 15 innings, played against UNLV on April 17, 1992. The Spartans won that game, 1-0, at PAL Stadium.
Longest games of 2019 - Time wise
3:24 SJSU at UNLV, 4/19 W, 5-3 (12)
2:40 SJSU vs. Bradley, 2/16 L, 14-6
2:31 SJSU vs. Boise State, 3/30 W, 6-5 (8)
MIX OF EXPERIENCE FOR THE INFIELD
The Spartans feature a mix of experience with the infield players. Senior Madison Aurin anchors the team at first, while junior Cassidy Clark is a fixture at second base. Sophomore Rayohna Sagapolu has been the starting short stop for the Spartans since March15, moving from third base where she ended the 2018 season. Freshman Alyssa Graham has started 31 games this season at third base. Behind the plate, senior Alyssa Avila has caught 33 games, while sophomore Grace Garvey has caught 13.
LOTS OF CHOICES IN THE OUTFIELD
The Spartans have a solid core of outfielders to choose from when making out the lineup card. Makayla Englestad has the most starts in the outfield with 43, followed by Kaelin Amrein with 33. In all, seven players have made a start in the outfield.
SAGAPOLU MAKING HER MARK AT SHORT
Sophomore Rayohna Sagapolu has taken the starting short stop position since the middle of March and made it her own. After finishing the 2018 season as the starter at third and beginning 2019 at third, she moved to short stop in March and has started there in 27 of the past 28 games.
Sagapolu has also improved her batting at the play by almost 90 points. This season, she is hitting .275 with 30 hits, 21 runs scored, 11 RBI, five doubles and two triples. She has a team-high three sacrifice hits, two sacrifice flies and a stolen base.
UP NEXT
The Spartans return home for Senior Weekend as the team hosts Nevada in a three-game MW series to close out the 2019 regular season. The two teams begin with a 3 p.m. game on Thursday, May 9, followed by noon games on the 10th and 11th. All seniors will be honored on Saturday.