April 16, 2008
SAN DIEGO - Senior Megan McDonald (Glendale, Ariz.) continued her offensive hot streak with three hits and two RBI to lead the No. 22/24 San Diego State softball team to a 3-1 victory over San Diego Wednesday night at USD Softball Complex. The Aztecs improved to 31-13 with the victory and now lead the overall series between the two schools, 45-2.
McDonald finished the game 3-for-4 to lead the SDSU offense, which banged out eight hits. Junior Christine Kulick (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) tied her season high with two hits, while three others added singles.
Freshman Brooke Petty (San Diego, Calif./Vista HS) earned the start for San Diego State and struck out four threw 3 2/3 innings. Petty allowed one run, an RBI groundout in the third, on two hits and two walks. She ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth, however, when Lindsay Fleet (single) and Jennifer Ellenbeck (walk) each reached base with two outs. Senior Christina Ross (Santa Clarita, Calif.) (20-10) relieved Petty and struck out Nichole Valenzuela on three pitches to end the threat. Ross struck out three over a perfect 3 1/3 innings to lower her season ERA to 0.94.
SDSU put its first run up in the top of the first inning thanks to some fundamental softball. Sophomore Brittany Knudsen (San Diego, Calif./Escondido HS) led off the game with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Tamani Wells (Concord, Calif.). Junior Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) followed with a single to left and then stole second to put runners on second and third with one out. Junior Erin Floros (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) then lofted a fly ball to deep foul territory in left field to allow Wells to score and give San Diego State the early 1-0 lead.
The Aztecs tacked on two more runs in the third. Wells led off with a walk and it appeared she would stay at first after consecutive hard lineouts by McCorkle and Floros. The inning stayed alive, however, when sophomore Lindsey Marquez (Tustin, Calif.) reached on a throwing error by the San Diego pitcher. McDonald took advantage of the extra opportunity with a bloop single to right that scored Wells from third and Marquez all the way from first.
SDSU will continue its nine-game road trip when it travels to New Mexico for a MWC doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. MT Friday.
NOTES: With the victory, SDSU won the season series, 2-1, and leads the all-time series over USD, 45-2 ... LHP Christina Ross has now gone 33 2/3 innings without issuing a walk ... With three strikeouts tonight, Ross is just two shy of tying Celena Velasquez (2003-06) for second on the all-time list with 529 strikeouts ... C Megan McDonald drove in two runs to move into fourth place on the career charts with 87 RBI ... CF Tamani Wells stole her 43rd career base tonight, moving into a tie with Lori Turken (1982-85) for fourth on the all-time list ... With a run in the first inning, RF Brittany Knudsen is now ninth on the career list with 66 runs ... SDSU is 14-1 when it scores in the first inning and 27-2 when it scores first.