Jackrabbits drop two of three

John Green

It was the series that got away.

After an impressive 6-2 opening victory against Oakland University, the SDSU softball team went on to drop the next two games of the series in a conference matchup April 11 and 12. The losses in the series bring SDSU to 10-22-1 on the season (4-11) while Oakland improved to 5-31 overall (3-15).

“It was a disappointing weekend,” head coach Kim Aggabao said. “We started out strong, but we definitely did not play up to our potential.”

The weekend started off down the right track when the Jacks took the lead of the opening game, 3-0. In the top of the fifth inning, SDSU took advantage of two Oakland errors to score twice, adding to the Jackrabbits’ total that began with a run in the top of the first. SDSU kept the fire going, doubling its run total in the top of the sixth off of a pair of RBIs and a second stolen base that allowed junior Marlee Petersen to score from third. Oakland would bounce back with two runs of their own to close out the inning, but the Golden Grizzlies could not overcome the deficit, losing 6-2.

The nightcap featured a similar storyline for the majority of the game, with SDSU and Oakland trading runs back and forth until the Jacks took the lead 5-2 going into the bottom of the seventh, where things got away from the Jackrabbits. The Golden Grizzlies came out swinging, posting four runs scored to close out the game and even up the series. Oakland recorded three RBIs, picking up the additional run off of a Jackrabbit error.

For the final game of the series, yet again, the Jacks secured the lead. Senior Morgan McCabe started things off for the Jacks in a big way, hitting a home run over the left field wall, scoring junior Devon Reick who had reached first base on a walk.

“Morgan’s home run got it going for us, and it gave us a lot of momentum,” Aggabao said. “But we just got complacent after that. There wasn’t any fire.”

The score remained unchanged at 2-0 until the bottom of the fourth when Oakland was able to secure one run on a sacrifice fly ball to right field. SDSU answered though, posting a home run to center field in the fifth, courtesy of junior Alex Landon. Oakland answered right back again, recording three runs off of three hits to bring the score to 4-3 in favor of Oakland. From that point forward, the Jacks stalled out on offense, while the Grizzlies added one more run to their total to win the game and the series, 5-3.

“It left a bitter taste in our mouth,” Aggabao said. “But we’re looking forward to getting back out there and putting it all together.”

The Jacks will have ample opportunity to prove themselves this weekend as they take on the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in a conference matchup April 20-21 in Cedar City, Utah.