San Diego State softball (22-22, 7-12 Mountain West) faced off against the Boise State Broncos (20-29, 6-13 MWC) late Friday afternoon in the first game of its final home series. Freshman pitcher Matti Kwartti (6-5, 5.44 ERA) got the nod against Broncos sophomore starter Julianne Rose (7-10, 4.74 ERA) to kick off the weekend series.
Boise State started the game off hot, jumping out to a 3-0 lead at the top of the first inning after junior third baseman Kate Penberthy crushed a three-run home run to right field. The Aztecs, however, were held in check in the bottom half of the inning.
“It’s been our Achilles heel all season and that’s how this game works. If you walk batters consistently, it comes back to hurt you,” head coach Stacy Nuveman Deniz said of the team’s first-inning struggles this season.
Both starters settled down after the first, trading scoreless frames until the top of the fourth inning, where the Broncos tacked on the fourth run of the ball game on a sacrifice fly from sophomore right fielder Sophia Romero, pushing the lead to 4-0.
The Scarlet and Blacks’ offense remained dormant for the first half of the game, only managing one hit through 5 innings. Boise State took advantage of this, adding on the fifth run in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI double from senior shortstop Hollie Farmer, growing the lead to 5-0.
The Aztecs finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, as junior right fielder Kaila Pollard crushed a solo home run to cut the deficit to 5-1. This helped spark a rally for the Scarlet and Black as they loaded the bases after the home run on two singles and a walk, bringing up the tying run to the plate.
Coach Nuveman Deniz turned to the bench and brought in sophomore outfielder Jayleen Hernandez to pinch hit in place of junior left fielder Jazmin Williams. Hernandez battled back from down 0-2 in the count before lacing a bases-clearing double into the right-field gap, cutting the lead to 5-4.
“I just tried to keep it simple. Took the first two pitches and thought of what she was going to throw next, and knew that I couldn’t let go of anything close,” Hernandez said about her approach heading into the at-bat.
Unfortunately for the Aztecs, they stranded the potential tying run on second before heading into the bottom of the seventh.
The Broncos made two consecutive great plays defensively, snagging two hard-hit line drives that threatened to be extra bases, ending the game in a 5-4 Boise victory.
“We can’t play two-inning ball games. It’s just not gonna work for us. We’ve got to get some things going offensively earlier in the game to avoid being in these too-little, too-late situations,” Nuveman Deniz said about the team’s offensive struggles in the earlier innings.
The Aztecs bounced back in the second game of the series with a 5-1 victory over the Broncos on Saturday.
The Aztecs are scheduled to finish off the weekend against the Broncos this Sunday at 12 PM before heading to Fresno to face the Fresno State Bulldogs in their final series of the regular season, with game one set for Thursday at 6 p.m.
