After beating Texas A&M University, 10-5, on Friday, the San Diego State softball team struggled both on the field and at the plate in Saturday’s games against University of Illinois at Chicago and Saint Joseph’s University. The Aztecs lost both games, 6-4 and 3-1, respectively.
In the first game against UIC, SDSU scored two runs early in the game, but not again until the bottom of the seventh.
Conversely, UIC put runs on the board nearly every inning.
After trailing 6-2 going into the seventh, SDSU started a two-out rally when sophomore Jenavee Peres reached on an error, allowing sophomore Zaria Meshack to score. Then, redshirt-freshman Katie Byrd hit a single through the left side, bringing in Peres to score. A groundout from junior Frankie Orlando brought the score to 6-4.
However, the root of the problem for the Aztecs against UIC was not just their bats, but their defensive errors. The team made a total of five fielding errors throughout the game, some costly.
Head coach Kathy Van Wyk recognizes the importance of the smooth, aggressive defense that the Aztecs were missing Saturday.
“We looked terribly tentative fielding every ground ball and we were just very hesitant,” she said. “You can’t play the game hesitant, you’ve got to go for it. And we didn’t do that today.”
The second game got off to a better start for the Aztecs, who scored in the first inning when senior Leia Ruiz hit a one-out single and reached second on a groundout by senior Samantha Camello. Peres then followed with a single to left field. The throw from left field missed the cutoff and allowed Ruiz to score.
This was the only Aztec run the entire game.
SDSU had a rough time bringing runners home, most notably leaving the bases loaded in the sixth. After racking up 10 runs against No. 11/9 Texas A&M on Friday, the lack of offense was frustrating for the Aztecs.
“It’s part of the game I can’t figure out,” Van Wyk said. “One day you’re amazing and the next day you look like you don’t know how to play the game. Hopefully we can learn from the mistakes and come back strong.”
Despite Saturday’s setback, Van Wyk feels the team chemistry is strong enough to pull the Aztecs back up to speed. She said the big wins are nice, but having a team that is close to each other is even more important with losses because they can support one another and build themselves back up.
The team’s scheduled game Sunday against Portland State was cancelled due to rain.
