SAN DIEGO – San Diego State softball secured a sweep of San Jose State on Sunday afternoon at the SDSU softball stadium, courtesy of a Mac Barbara home run in the bottom of the sixth which put the Aztecs in front, 3-2. In the circle a trio of Aztecs combined to give up just two runs on five hits in the win.
With the Spartans (15-20, 3-6 MW) up 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Aztecs (22-10, 6-3 MW) needed a rally to come away with the series sweep and they came through. With one out in the inning Makenna Brocki doubled to left center before advancing to third when Bella Espinoza bunted her over. Brocki then scored on a wild pitch, cutting the Aztecs deficit in half with Jillian Celis at the plate. Celis then walked to bring up Barbara. The redshirt sophomore took her first pitch of the at bat for a ball before hammering the next pitch over the fence in right field to put the Aztecs up 3-2 and cap off a three run bottom of the sixth. The home run was Barbara's sixth of the season.
Earlier on in the game it was San Jose State who struck first. After neither team was able to score in the opening two frames, San Jose State scored two runs in the top of the third inning. After the second batter of the inning walking, Alyssa Graham hit a home run over the fence in center field to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Those would be the only runs the Spartans would score all game.
After falling behind 2-0 Allie Light and Sarah Lehman came on in relief for two innings each. The duo combined for four innings of four hit softball, and struckout six batters. Lehman closed out the final two innings by herself and racked up four strikeouts over that time frame to secure the win for SDSU.
THE NOTE
SDSU improved to 12-2 on the season against teams from the state of California.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs continue Mountain West play next weekend when they at Utah State in Logan, Utah. The series is set to begin Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. MT.
San Diego State 3, San Jose State 2
San Jose State (15-20, 3-6 MW) 002 00 00 -- 2 5 0
San Diego State (22-10, 6-3 MW) 000 00 3x -- 3 3 2
W - Lehman, 8-2; L – Ullegue, 7-6
HR: Barbara (1), Graham (1)
Barbara's Home Run Lifts Aztecs Past SJSU, 3-2
