April 23, 2004
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The San Diego State softball team (31-18, 10-2 Mountain West Conference) rallied for their biggest comeback of the 2004 season, tied a season record for runs in an inning, two players hit their first Aztec home runs and SDSU's "closer" continued her amazing hot streak, all just in game one of Friday's MWC doubleheader versus New Mexico (27-26, 1-8 MWC), a 7-4 win. In the second game, another Aztec hitter blasted her first career homer, a sophomore had her first career hit (a double), the team re-tied the season high for runs scored in an inning and scored in double figures for the second time this season and center fielder Janna Kovensky (San Diego, Calif.) broke the SDSU career record for runs scored when she crossed home plate in the first inning. The Aztecs completed the sweep with a 10-3 victory.
In game one, junior first baseman Lacey Craft (Valley Center, Calif.) tied the game with one out in the seventh by hitting a clutch two-run shot to left-center, her first Aztec homer, and San Diego State proceeded to score three additional runs to win, 7-4. Craft, in her second season at SDSU, hit a homer as a freshman at Palomar College.
The previous season-high for largest Aztec comeback was two runs when SDSU fell behind BYU, 2-0, after three innings of game two of April 2's MWC doubleheader and rallied for a 5-2 victory. The five runs scored in the seventh (and tied with five more runs in the fourth inning of game two) tied a season high from March 20 when SDSU tallied five runs in the third inning of an 8-0 victory over Dartmouth
With SDSU trailing in the second, 1-0, sophomore right fielder Bree Boyer (Huntington Beach, Calif.) lined an 0-2 pitch over the left field fence, just a couple feet to the right of the foul pole, for her first career homer.
Pitcher Celena Velasquez (Tucson, Ariz.) came on with one out in the second and SDSU trailing, 4-1, and shut down the Lobos by allowing no runs to extend her scoreless innings stretch to 18.2, dating to April 3. She extended her amazing streak of entering seven consecutive Aztec games in relief and earning five wins and two saves while not allowing a run.
SDSU responded to the three-run Lobo outburst with a single tally in the top of the third, cutting the UNM lead to 4-2.
Lobo pitcher Iraina Ogas then completely shut down the Aztecs, retiring 13 straight before Boyer singled to center field with one out in the seventh to set the stage for Craft's dramatics.
Boyer led the Aztec hitting attack in game one with a 2-for-3 performance with two runs and one RBI.
Boyer kept her hot hitting going with a 2-for-4 performance with a run scored in game two. Shortstop Meagan Hartung (San Diego, Calif.) was 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI and Kovensky went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run. Pitcher Deanna Richards (Visalia, Calif.) pitched the first Aztec complete game since she threw a complete-game victory in April 2's 5-2 victory at BYU. She allowed three runs on seven hits today.
Following a first-inning walk issued to Hartung, Kovensky drove her in with a double to left center. Kovensky would score herself on an RBI fielder's choice by second baseman Joann Figueroa (Phoenix, Ariz.) to break the SDSU career scoring record. Her 127 runs surpasses Kellie Nordhagen's (1999-02) 126.
The Lobos scored a run in the second to cut the Aztec lead to 2-1, but SDSU responded with another five-run outburst in the fourth. Doubles by Craft and catcher Danielle Touhey (Fresno, Calif.) highlighted the inning.
Single runs by New Mexico in the fourth and fifth were more than matched by San Diego State's three-spot in the sixth. Catcher Jamie Burton (Carlsbad, Calif.) hit a double to left center for the sophomore's first career hit (1-for-5 on her career) and, following a walk to Hartung, pinch hitter Brittany Green (San Clemente, Calif.), a junior, blasted her first career home run in the sixth inning, a three-run blast that easily sailed over the left field fence.
The 10 runs scored in the 10-3 Aztec win is the second highest of the season (SDSU defeated Oklahoma State, 11-2 in five innings on Feb. 14) and the most scored in a MWC game since a 10-2 victory at BYU on April 19, 2002, a span of 35 games.
The Aztecs head north and play second-place Colorado State (32-11, 8-2 MWC) in a MWC doubleheader at noon MDT on Sunday. SDSU leads CSU by one game in the standings following the Rams' doubleheader sweep over UNLV on Friday, 15-0 in five innings and 4-3.