SAN JOSE, Calif. - Delaney Faus pitched 5.2 total innings and struck out a career-high five batters to lead the San José State softball team (9-15, 1-0 MW) to a 5-2 Mountain West win over UNLV (12-14, 0-1 MW) Friday night to open conference play.
Faus pitched the first five innings with four strikeouts and allowed only one run, a UNLV homerun in the top of the third. Norah Coulsell pitched the next 1.1 innings, allowing one run in the seventh before Faus re-entered to retire the last two batters for the win.
Down 1-0, the Spartans responded in the bottom of the fourth with two runs. Leata Sherlin hit into a fielder's choice that scored Reina Zermeno from third. Taylor Chillingworth followed it up with a fielder's choice, bringing in Carly Cummings.
Sherlin singled to second base on a full count to score Ahmiya Noriega from second in the bottom of the fifth inning. Immediately after, Shay McDowell ripped a single through the right side of the infield to score Zermeno.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Spartans then found themselves in a bases-loaded, two-out situation and would send up pinch hitter, Isabella Sandoval. With a 3-1 count, she took the pitch for ball four to bring in Haley Reeve from third.
SJSU opened conference with a win at home for the first time since March 17, 2023, with a 5-4 win over Nevada.
NOTABLES
- Zermeno went 2-for-3 at the plate, scoring two runs. She also hit her fifth double of the season
- Sherlin went 1-for-4 with two RBI
- McDowell, Chillingworth and Sandoval each also collected an RBI
UP NEXT: The Spartans return to the diamond tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. for the second game of the opening conference series with UNLV.
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