April 6, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
The No. 19/22 San Diego State softball team rallied from a 1-0 deficit with two runs in the fifth inning in a 2-1 victory over UNLV Sunday afternoon at SDSU Softball Stadium. It was the fourth straight win for the Aztecs (29-10, 2-0 MWC).
Each backed by a strong defense, SDSU's Christina Ross (Santa Clarita, Calif.) and the Rebels' (20-22-1, 0-2 MWC) Heather Slettvet kept their opponents off-balanced all day in the circle. San Diego State managed just three hits off Slettvet, while UNLV got four off Ross.
The Rebels got on the board in the top of the fifth inning when Ashli Holland stroked a one-out, 1-0 pitch over the left field wall. It was Ross' (18-8) first run allowed in 30 innings and her first earned run allowed over 35 innings.
The Aztecs, however, weren't going to go quietly as they rallied for two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Junior Erin Floros (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel HS) led off with a single to left field and was replaced at first by sophomore Stefanie Quichocho-Rosario (San Diego, Calif./Morse HS). Quichocho-Rosario moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Lindsey Marquez (Tustin, Calif.) and advanced to third on a single through the left side by senior Megan McDonald (Glendale, Ariz.). Sophomore Katy Erickson (Tustin, Calif.) pinch-ran for McDonald and moved to second when junior Dani Sidoti (Tucson, Ariz.) drew a crucial walk on a 3-2 count to load the bases.
Pinch-hitter Janae Portugal (San Diego, Calif./Westview HS) cashed in for SDSU with an RBI groundout that scored Quichocho-Rosario. The Aztecs took the 2-1 lead when freshman Jen Wisneski (Riverside, Calif.) laid down a well-placed squeeze bunt to score Erickson with the game-winning run.
Ross backed up the lead with two perfect innings to secure her 18th victory of the season. For the game, Ross allowed one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out seven over seven innings.
On the other side of the circle, UNLV's Slettvet (2-7) scattered two runs on three hits and a walk over six innings of work. She also added four strikeouts.
SDSU continues its six-game homestand to begin conference play with a doubleheader against Utah on Thursday, beginning at 5 p.m.
NOTES: The Aztecs are now 29-10 (.744) overall and 18-2 (.900) at SDSU Softball Stadium, on pace to break the school single-season records of 34-15 (.694) and 20-6 (.769), respectively ... SDSU is 12-1 this season in solo games (17-9 in multiple-game days) ... With a strikeout against the Rebels' Rosa Ordaz in the sixth inning, LHP Christina Ross became just the third Aztec to reach the 500 strikeout plateau over her career. Ross is third on the list and trails only Sandra Durazo's (1998-01) 543 and Celena Velasquez's (2003-06) 529 ... Ross picked up her 58th career complete game to tie Patty Mackey (1980-83) for sixth place on the school's all-time list.