May 11, 2007
PROVO, Utah - The San Diego State softball team gave Mountain West Conference champion Brigham Young its first loss at home this season with an 11-3 victory in Provo Friday night. The Aztecs improved to 32-23 overall and 8-11 in league play, while the Cougars fell to 40-18, 15-4 in the MWC and 14-1 at home.
San Diego State, which left 11 runners on base for the game, outhit Brigham Young, 10-7, and took advantage of eight walks and six Cougar errors.
SDSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when sophomore Monica Alnes (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) hit a one-out two-run home run over the center field fence. Freshman Brittany Knudsen (San Diego/Escondido HS), who led off the game with a walk and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by junior Tamani Wells (Concord, Calif.), scored from second on Alnes' homer, her fourth of the season.
The Aztecs tacked on two more runs in the third as the first four runners each reached base to leadoff the inning. Knudsen (walk), Wells (fielder's choice), sophomore Melissa Owens (San Diego/Christian HS) (walk) loaded the bases. Alnes then drew the bases loaded walk for her third RBI of the game. Two batters later, senior Christy Hollingshead (San Jose, Calif.) singled home Wells to put SDSU up, 4-0.
A two-run homer by Courtney Nix-Clark in the bottom of the third brought the Cougars within two runs at 4-2.
With the bases loaded for SDSU in the fourth, sophomore Dani Sidoti (Tucson, Ariz.) cashed in with an infield single to the BYU shortstop to score Knudsen with her third run of the game.
The Aztecs loaded the bases in the fifth for the third time in the game and Owens delivered with a two-out single to center field to plate sophomore Christine Kulick (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) and senior Amanda Beasley (San Diego/Mount Miguel HS).
SDSU scored its final four runs in the seventh thanks in part to three Cougar errors. Owens (single) and Hollingshead (sacrifice fly) both drove in runs in the inning.
Junior pitcher Christina Ross (Santa Clarita, Calif.) (23-12) picked up the win for SDSU after striking out three batters over seven innings. She allowed seven hits and three runs to the Cougars, who came into the game leading the MWC with a .314 batting average.
Ross got out of a big jam in the sixth when she allowed to first three BYU batters to get on with a single, fielder's choice and another single with no outs. However, Ross got out of the inning by giving up just one run. She got a force out a home, a force out at second in which a Cougar runner scored from third, and groundout to second to end the threat.
Alnes had two hits and drove in four runs to lead the Aztecs, while Owens had two hits, two walks and three RBI. Sidoti added two hits and Kundsen walked three times and scored four runs.
San Diego State wraps up its regular season in Provo tomorrow when it takes on BYU at 2 p.m. MT.