May 1, 2015
LOGAN, Utah -
The San Diego State softball team downed Utah State, 9-3, in the first game of a weekend series Friday afternoon in Logan, Utah. The Aztecs (33-18, 16-6 MW) outhit the Aggies (16-34, 8-11 MW), 13-6, in the game with five of the hits going for extra bases.
SDSU got on the scoreboard first in the top of the first inning on consecutive two-out singles. Bauer got things going with a single through the left side and moved to second on a wild pitch. Peres followed with a single to left-center field for the first run of the game.
USU responded in the bottom of the first as Jolene Koons scored on a fielding error by San Diego State.
The Aztecs broke the 1-1 tie with three runs in the second. Freshman Taylor Stewart (Bellflower, Calif.) and junior Stefania Aradillas (Mexico City, Mexico) each got on base with back-to-back singles. Junior Victoria Kobold (Concord, Calif.) replaced Stewart and senior Hayley Miles (Antelope, Calif.) followed with a single to center field, where Sarah Vasquez misfielded it and allowed Aradillas to follow Kobold home. Miles would later score on a single up the middle by senior Kayla Jordan (San Diego/Bonita Vista HS).
In the third, Stewart doubled home Peres and Aradillas later hit a deep fly ball down the right field foul line to plate sophomore Sydnee Cable (Huntington Beach, Calif.) with the sacrifice fly and give SDSU the 6-1 advantage.
Bauer kept San Diego State's offensive barrage going in the fifth when she led off the inning with a home run off the scoreboard in right-center field. It was her 17th of the season and 58th of her career.
Utah State put together a rally in its bottom half of the fifth as Hailey Froton (single), Koons (single) and Alleyah Armendariz (walk) each reached with no outs. An Aztec error, their third of the game, with Noelle Johnson at the plate allowed Froton and Koons to scamper home with unearned runs. SDSU sophomore pitcher Erica Romero (Corona, Calif.) then got the visitors out of the jam by getting three straight outs, including two popouts and a strikeout to Nicole Arata.
San Diego State went back to work in the sixth as Miles led off with a single and moved to third one batter later on a double to center field by Jordan. One out later, Bauer was intentionally walked on three pitches, and Peres took the first pitch she saw off the left field wall to score the final two runs of the game.
Bauer led the offense once again by going 3-for-3 with the solo homer, two runs and a walk. Peres added three hits, including a pair of doubles, two RBIs and a run scored.
Stewart was 2-for-2 with an RBI double and a walk, while Jordan (run, RBI, double, stolen base) and Miles (RBI, two runs) added two hits apiece. Making her first career start, Aradillas picked up her first career hit, RBI and run.
The offense was plenty for Romero (31-15), who allowed three unearned runs on six hits, two walks and a hit batter over seven innings, while striking out two. The win gives Romero 31 on the year, matching the school's all-time single-season record (Danielle O'Toole, set in 2014).
The Aztecs and Aggies play game No. 2 at noon MT Saturday.
San Diego State 9, Utah State 3
San Diego State (33-18, 16-6 MW) 132 012 0 -- 9 13 3
Utah State (16-34, 8-11 MW) 100 020 0 -- 3 6 1
Romero and Peres, Orlando (6); Johnson and Buttacavoli
W -Romero, 31-15; L - Johnson, 14-15
HR: San Diego State, Bauer (17)