Sacramento State softball was unable to avenge its loss yesterday as it fell in the second straight game to the San Jose State Spartans. 

The Hornets pitching was not able to control the Spartan offense, losing 5-2 Wednesday afternoon.

“We did start a bit earlier today, so Jennifer (Hartman’s) warm up time might have not been the same as her usual amount of time, but I don’t think that really was a big deal,” said Hornets head Coach Kathy Strahan.

The freshman pitcher was not able to better her performance from the day before as she walked the first three batters in the first inning. 

Strahan did not let Hartman record one out in the game before taking her out and bringing in junior pitcher Taylor Stroud.

“Taylor did a great job keeping the Spartans from scoring more runs in the inning and mixing her speeds effectively,” Strahan said.

Stroud was able to get out of the first inning by keeping the batters off balance. She was able to give her defense a chance to play all game. 

The Spartan offense was powered by sophomore Nicole Schultz as she went 3-4 and hit a solo home run. Schultz hurt the Hornets in the last two games, hitting .714 with a home run and two RBIs. 

The Hornet offense had chances to produce some runs early on in the game in order to counter the Spartan offense outpour. In the fifth inning, Sac State threatened to score after two walks and a sacrifice bunt by junior shortstop Yesenia Alcala, but was unable to score the two base runners in scoring position when both sophomores’ center fielder Alexa Chattleton and left fielder Nicole Clark grounded and flew out to end the inning. 

Sac State was finally able to score in the bottom half of the sixth and seventh innings as the Hornets hit two home runs.

It only took senior second baseman Lauren Blair half an inning coming into the game to make her name known when she blasted a solo home run over the right field fence. 

Blair said that it was nice to finally help produce some offense for the team.

“It felt good for me to hit my first ever collegiate home run,” Blair said. 

Freshman first baseman Alyssa Vanderdrink hit her second home run of the season over the left field fence, shortening the Hornets deficit to three runs. 

Strahan said that senior Kelli Frye’s foot injury definitely affected the team today in that it left a big hole in the lineup, but she was very proud of how well Vanderdrink and Blair produced for the team. 

“It was nice to see Lauren and Alyssa step up in today’s game, because we needed someone else on the team to finally contribute.” Strahan said.

The Hornets will take on the No. 5 ranked California Golden Bears Saturday at 1 p.m.

 

 

Clifton can be reached on Twitter at @jonesSHshports