By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa ):
San Jose State softball extended its winning streak to seven games with wins over Florida International University and Seattle University Saturday in Las Vegas.
The Spartans (8-1) are now 4-0 in the Marucci Desert Classic and have the opportunity to sweep the tournament today against Iowa State at 11:15 a.m.
In its first game of the day, SJSU had a 3-0 lead until the sixth, but FIU (4-6) made things interesting as freshman first baseman Kasandra Castle drove in junior outfielders Tatyana Forbes and Jackie Schoff on a two-RBI single to make it 3-2.
The Spartans tacked on an insurance run in the sixth and held on to win, 4-2.
In the following game versus SU (5-3), junior pitcher Madison Aurin got the Spartans on the board first with a two-run homer in the first inning.
With the score at 5-1 in favor of SJSU after three frames, senior third baseman Emma Entzminger hit a two-run homer of her own and made it 7-1 in the fourth.
The Redhawks closed the gap to 7-4 in the fifth and eventually took an 8-7 lead after six innings.
The Spartans responded in the bottom half of the sixth with three runs to retake the lead at 10-8.
Sophomore first baseman Georgia Blair tied the game with an uncleanly-fielded grounder and freshman designated hitter Jacey Phipps put the Spartans ahead with a two-RBI hit.
SU threatened in the top of the seventh with runners on the corners, but SJSU secured the win by the same score.
Freshman pitcher Caroline Bowman went 2-0 in the circle with a complete-game win against FIU and a win in relief against SU. She improves to 5-0 on the season.