The San Jose State softball team came out blazing and secured its first win during its series opener with a 7-4 victory against Saint Mary’s College on Friday.
The Spartans visited Cottrell Field in Moraga and the game was full of firsts for the team.
Not only was it SJSU’s first win this season, but the victory also marked Tammy Lohmann’s first career win as the head coach.
“The first of many to come for Coach Lohmann and staff,” read a post from the official SJSU softball Twitter account.
Tammy Lohmann is the sixth head coach for the SJSU softball program and has over 16 years of coaching experience.
She was associate head coach for 15 years at UC Berkeley and joined the SJSU softball program last year.
Lohmann was not only excited for the players, but the coaches as well. She acknowledged it was a great start to their season, but they aren’t going to get distracted.
“We will enjoy the first victory of the season and then refocus and get ready to compete again on Sunday,” Lohmann said in an article from SJSU athletics.
The Spartans immediately started off strong in the first inning with a 2-1 lead.
Infielders Alyssa Graham and Arianna Miranda secured the first two runs of the game. Graham was able to run home from a single RBI by UTIL Malia Luna while Miranda capitalized on a throwing error made by Saint Mary’s.
But the Spartans’ lead did not last long.
On a pass ball, the Gaels rallied and were able to tie the game in the second inning. It set the stage for a close back-and-forth game for three innings.
SJSU was down 4-3 at the top of the sixth. The Spartans’ momentum soon picked up and eventually resulted in a 3-run scoring streak which gave them the lead again.
The nail in the coffin to secure the Spartans’s win came when infielder Ashley Rico hit her first career home run against Gaels pitcher Kayla Scott, bringing in 3-runs and gave the Spartans the final advantage they needed.
Once SJSU had secured the 3-run lead in the sixth inning, Saint Mary’s struggled to catch up.
The women finished the game strong and held their 7-4 lead into the seventh inning.
Rico, Miranda and Graham all had huge successes during the game and made huge contributions that lead to the Spartans win.
The official SJSU softball team Twitter account posted shoutouts for the women and also congratulated Miranda for her 21st birthday, who had 2 hits including an RBI double.
Graham, the standout player againsts the Gaels, was 3 for 4 at bat and scored 3 out of 7 runs for the Spartans.
The team had an exceptional day and finished the game with no field errors, pulling off a total of 9 hits as a team.
The softball team faced Saint Mary’s on Sunday and ended the three gameseries 2-1.
The program kept their momentum going for the first game of their double header on Sunday but lost it during the last game.
The Spartans are expected to play Loyola Marymount University Friday at 9:30 a.m.
