Nevada
12-35, 3-15 MW
May 9 - 3:00 p.m. PT
May 10 - 12:00 p.m. PT
May 11 - 12:00 p.m. PT
Spartan Softball Field - San Jose, Calif.
Spartans Host Nevada For Senior Weekend
San José State and Nevada face off for the final weekend of Mountain West play at Spartan Softball Field. The Spartans enter the series with a 35-15 overall record and are second in the MW standings with a 15-6 record.
LIVE STATS
Thursday - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=255556
Friday - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=255557
Saturday - http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=255558
VIDEO
Thursday - https://player.watchstadium.com/webapp/sanjose/index.html#/live/169222?school=121&live_section=1&archive_section=1
Friday - https://player.watchstadium.com/webapp/sanjose/index.html#/live/169706?school=121&live_section=1&archive_section=1
Saturday - https://player.watchstadium.com/webapp/sanjose/index.html#/live/169257?school=121&live_section=1&archive_section=1
The Spartans swept New Mexico last weekend in Albuquerque. 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.
Sagapolu Honored as MW Softball Player of the Week
Sophomore infielder Rayohna Sagapolu has been named the Mountain West Softball Player of the Week for her play last weekend as the Spartans went 3-0 at New Mexico. The Spartan shortstop hit .625 for the week (5-for-8) with .750 on-base and slugging percentages. She scored seven runs in the three victories, drove in four runs and walked four times. She walked twice in Friday night's 10-4 win and scored two of the Spartan runs. On Saturday, Sagapolu scored a career-high three runs in the game as she was 2-for-2 at the plate with two walks. In the third inning of Saturday's game, she was on third and running home as the Lobo third baseman decided to throw home to get Sagapolu instead of the lead runner. Sagapolu had another idea, went around the tag and came back to touch home plate for the fourth run of the inning and eighth of the game.
SCOUTING THE WOLF PACK
Nevada enters the final regular season weekend with a 26-23 overall record and 10-11 Mountain West record and in seventh place the conference standings. Nevada lost two of three last weekend to rival UNLV.
The Wolf Pack are hitting .285 with 372 hits and 238 runs scored. They have hit 78 doubles, six triples and 38 home runs. The team has walked 155 times while struck out 212 times. The Lobos have stolen 19 bases on 28 attempts.
Sadaria McAlister leads the team witha .371 batting average. She has 62 hits in 167 plate appearances and scored 39 runs. She has hit 14 doubles, five home runs and a triple while driving in 26. McAlister has also stolen a team-high 10 bases on 13 attempts. Sierra Mello is hitting .352 with 58 hits and 39 runs scored, while Kenzi Goins is hiting .328 with 44 hits, nine home runs and 32 RBI.
In the circle, the Wolf Pack have a 3.77 ERA with 277 strikeouts in 316 innings pitched. The pitching staff is led by Kendall Fritz who has an 11-8 record with 114 strikeouts. She has a 3.69 ERA in 138.1 innings pitched, 27 appearances with 23 games started and 12 complete games. Kali Sargent has a team-best 3.51 ERA with a 6-9 record. She has pitched in 89.2 innings and struck out 84 in 23 appearances.
Nevada has a .968 fielding percentage, having committed 42 errors on the season. The team has turned 11 double plays this season.
Head coach Josh Taylor is in his third year at the helm of the program.
San José State leads the overall series, 36-21, dating back to the 1986 season. Nevada won two of the three games played in Reno last season.
SENIOR WEEKEND
The four Spartan seniors will be honored this weekend as they play their final home games in a Spartan uniform - OF Kaelin Amrein, IF/P Madison Aurin, C Alyssa Avila and OF Kristen Heffley. The four will be celebrated after Saturday's games.
SUN IS BLINDING
This being the first full season of action at the Spartan Softball Field, San José State had a unique situation on April 26 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. This is also a main reason why this Friday's game will be played at 3 p.m.
MOUNTAIN WEST ACTION
San José State currently is in second place in the Mountain West standings with a 15-6 record, three games behind Colorado State who finished MW play with an 18-6 record, clinching at least a share of the MW title.
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).
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Since opening Spartan Softball Field at the end of the 2018 season, SJSU is VERY comfortable at home. San José State is 21-4 this season and 24-4 overall since the opening of its new field. The field was opened on April 27, 2018, in time for the team's last home series of last season, and SJSU swept the three-games series from New Mexico by scores of 3-1, 2-1 & 3-1.
MADDY & THE CAREER LISTS
As her Spartan career ends, Madison Aurin finds her name plastered all over the San José State record book, making her one of the best all-around players in Spartan softball history. Aurin ranks in the top-10 of batting average (7th - .336), on-base percentage (10th - .400), slugging (2nd - .551), home runs (3rd - 27), RBI (3rd – 159), doubles (T4th - 41), total bases (4th – 327) and sacrifice flies (1st – 15). Aurin moved onto the career hits list last weekend and is currently eighth all-time with 199 hits.
In the circle, she is 15th in ERA (2.97), 16th in wins (21) and tied for 10th in saves (3).
Defensively she is first in fielding percentage (.991) and double plays turned (61), fifth in chances (1,100), and fifth in putouts (984).
WINNING STREAK RECORD SET
Win, Win, Win, Win, Win, Win, Win, Win, Win, Win, Win, Win
That's 12 wins in a row for the Spartans. The team started that streak with an 8-0 win over Weber State on March 10 to a 4-2 win at Fresno State on March 23. The streak ended with the 4-3 loss at Fresno State on March 24.
Longest winning streaks in school history
12 games March 10-23, 2019
11 games February 26-March 15, 1992
10 games March 15-27, 2013
10 games February 27-March 14, 2010
10 games February 14-March 15, 1991
CAN'T STRIKE US OUT
Two Spartans rank in the top-100 nationally in toughest to strikeout out (through games played 5/6). Cassidy Clark ranks as the 55th toughest to strikeout out, happening just once every 20.9 at bats. Madison Aurin is the 82nd toughest to strikeout in the nation, striking out just once every 18.1 at bats. This season, Clark has struck out seven times, while Aurin has been struck out eight times.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will watch ESPN2 Sunday night along with the rest of the country to see which 64 teams will be selected to the 2019 NCAA DI Women's College World Series Bracket. Regional action will be held May 17-19, followed by Super Regionals May 23-26 and the Women's College World Series May 30-June 5.