March 18, 2010
SAN DIEGO -
The San Diego State softball team won its eighth consecutive game with a 2-1 victory over No. 25 Massachusetts in the first day of the San Diego Classic II Thursday night at SDSU Softball Stadium. The Aztecs (16-8), who are receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA and ESPN.com/USA Softball national polls, have outscored the opposition, 38-6, over the eight contests, with three of the victories coming against nationally ranked schools.
SDSU used its speed and some Minutewomen (12-5) miscues to get its first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff hitter Felicia Reifschneider (San Diego/Morse HS) reached on a throwing error by the UMass third baseman and then advanced all the way to third on the play. She would score one batter later on a wild pitch by Massachusetts pitcher Sara Plourde.
San Diego State took a 2-0 lead in the third when senior Brittany Knudsen (San Diego/Escondido HS) got into scoring position with a one-out double. Redshirt senior Monica Alnes (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) followed with a sharp-hit single to right field for the eventual game-winning RBI.
It looked like the two runs would be plenty for junior pitcher Samantha Beasley (San Diego/Steele Canyon HS), who allowed just one hit and a walk through the first five innings. Massachusetts, which came into the game ranked 25th by USA Today/NFCA, put together a two-out rally for a score in the sixth. With Kyllie Magill on first (fielder's choice groundout after a Carly Normandin single), Katie Bettencourt singled deep in the hole at shortstop. Michelle Libby singled up the middle to finally get the Minutewomen on the scoreboard. On the play, Bettencourt and Libby each moved up a base on an Aztec throwing error, putting two runners in scoring position with two outs. Beasley (12-5) got out of the jam by getting Sarah Reeves to ground out weakly to Alnes at first.
UMass threatened again in the seventh after a 1-2-3 SDSU at-bat, getting two runners on base with two outs. San Diego State sophomore pitcher Bailey Micetich (Woodland, Calif.) relieved Beasley and got Normandin to ground out to Alnes, ending the game in favor of the Aztecs at 2-1.
Beasley allowed one run on six hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings. She struck out 10 for her fifth double-digit strikeout game of the season and 14th of her career. Beasley has won seven straight decisions. Micetich's five-pitch out was good enough for her second save of the season.
Alnes had two of SDSU's four hits, while Knudsen added a walk to her double. Junior Jen Wisneski (Riverside, Calif.) had a hit for the fifth straight game.
San Diego State resumes its play in the San Diego Classic II Friday with a 7 p.m. game against Kansas.
San Diego Classic II SDSU Softball Stadium March 18, 2010
San Diego State 2, No. 25/rv Massachusetts 1 Massachusetts (12-5) 000 001 0 -- 1 6 1 San Diego State (16-8) 101 000 x -- 2 4 1 Plourde and Carta; Beasley, Micetich (7) and Sahatdjian Win: Beasley (12-5); Loss: Plourde (11-3); Save: Micetich (2)
Other Day One Games ~ No. 25/rv Massachusetts 7, Kansas 6 & San Diego 3, Harvard 2
~ Game played at SDSU Softball Stadium & Game played at USD Softball Complex