As junior shortstop Jen Wisneski entered the dugout after her solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth, she had a question for her coach.
“Was that one a strike?” Wisneski asked.
She had struck out looking the at-bat before and made sure she wouldn’t do that again. She swung on the first pitch and sent it skyrocketing over the left field fence.
“I was upset with myself for striking out like that,” Wisneski said. “I don’t usually do that and I went into that at-bat with the mindset of making contact and taking good swings. And taking that first pitch deep was more than I expected to get.”
The home run added another run on top of the San Diego State softball team’s commanding 6-1 lead. Junior pitcher Samantha Beasley blanked the opposing Colorado State Rams in the top of the sixth, ending the game with her 12th strikeout.
“The entire weekend felt really good,” Wisneski said. “The wins came from a lot of hard work and seeing the ball well. We’ve done that with a positive attitude knowing we can win any game.”
SDSU (25-10) opened Mountain West Conference play last weekend at the SDSU Softball Stadium against New Mexico and CSU. The Aztecs went 3-0, with a run differential of 21-3.
“This weekend we came out swinging and we got nice leads,” head coach Kathy Van Wyk said. “With those big leads, they let Sam (Beasley) feel a lot easier on the mound but it also spells out that we can have real productive games against conference opponents.”
With the dominating performance at the plate throughout the weekend, SDSU raised its team batting average to .299 8212; which, if the season ended today, the Aztecs would earn an all-time season record for team batting average.
“The batting average shows a lot for where we have come as a team,” Van Wyk said. “Our pitching has always been here, our defense has always been here and we usually played small ball. That was us, but now we have become a force with a bat and it gives us a great edge and opportunity to control a lot of our conference games.”
The other dominant force on Sunday was found on the mound. Beasley allowed only one run on four hits and silenced the Rams at the plate with a 0.74 earned run average.
“Sam (Beasley) has been what she has all season: our ace,” Van Wyk said. “Every time she’s on the field we have a chance to win and I feel we’re never the underdog with her.”
