April 19, 2008
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The No. 22/24 San Diego State softball team defeated Colorado State, 4-1, Saturday afternoon in Fort Collins, Colo. The Aztecs improved to 34-13 and 6-3 in Mountain West Conference play with their fourth consecutive victory, while the Rams dropped to 23-17 and 3-6.
Sophomore Brittany Knudsen (San Diego, Calif./Escondido HS) led the offense with two hits, two RBI and a run scored, while juniors Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) (2-for-3, RBI, walk) and Erin Floros (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) (2-for-4, run) added two hits apiece.
San Diego State received another strong outing in the circle from senior Christina Ross (Santa Clarita, Calif.) (22-10). Ross allowed one unearned run on six hits and a walk, while striking out five.
SDSU got on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning when McCorkle's single through the right side of the infield scored Knudsen from second base. Knudsen had reached on a fielding error by the Colorado State second baseman and stole second one batter later.
The Rams tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Robin Mask advanced all the way to second on a throwing error by the San Diego State shortstop and, one batter later, scored on a single by Caitlin Stem.
Ross ran into trouble in the fifth when she allowed Colorado State to load the bases with one out on two singles and a hit batter. Ross then got Ashley Munoz to line out to Aztec first baseman Floros, who then tagged the runner at first for the unassisted double play.
SDSU took advantage of the Rams' misfortunes by putting two runs on the scoreboard in the sixth, all with two outs. Redshirt junior Dani Sidoti (Tucson, Ariz.) hit a pinch-hit single and freshman Jen Wisneski (Riverside, Calif.) reached after getting hit by a pitch. Knudsen then drilled a 1-2 pitch off the right field wall for her third triple of the season.
San Diego State added a run in the seventh when sophomore Lindsey Marquez' (Tustin, Calif.) team-leading fourth sacrifice fly scored Floros.
The Aztecs and Rams will meet again on Sunday, beginning at noon MT.
NOTES: With five strikeouts today, LHP Christina Ross moved past Celena Velasquez (2003-06) for sole possession of second place on the school's all-time strikeout list with 534. Ross now only trails Sandra Durazo's 543, set from 1998-2001 ... RF Brittany Knudsen moved into a tie with Tiffany Goudy (2000-02) and Chrystal Friesen (1993-96) for 10th on the all-time list with her sixth career triple ... CF Tamani Wells stole her 44th career base to move into fourth on the career list ... Her 18 stolen bases this season are the most by an Aztec since Sarah Hershman's 19 in 2001 ... The 18 swipes puts her in a tie with two others for eighth on the single-season top-10 list ... With another sacrifice bunt, Wells now has 18 on the season, tied with three others for the fifth-most by an Aztec in a single season ... SDSU is 30-2 when scoring first this season.