SOFTBALL FALLS TO SAN JOSE STATE IN FINAL GAME OF THE HORNET ROUND ROBIN

3/7/2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – San Jose State’s Kelli Fangonilo went 3-for-4 with three runs, a home run and five RBIs to lead the Spartans to an 11-5 victory over Sacramento State in the third and final day of the Hornet Round Robin Sunday morning at Shea Stadium.

The Hornets (3-12) were playing in their final game of the three-day, round robin event and finished with an 0-5 record. Sacramento State, which started nine underclassmen in the game and are in the midst of a rebuilding season, dropped its seventh straight game. The losing streak is the longest for the Hornets since the 2004 squad dropped eight in a row.

San Jose State (16-5) concluded the event with a 4-0 record, while Charlotte (14-3) went 3-2.

A team strength during the first 10 games of the season for Sacramento State, the team’s pitching staff was battered during the round robin. Over the five-game stretch, the pitching staff’s ERA was 6.80 and opponents hit .373 off a trio of Hornet pitchers.

Conversely, Sacramento State’s offensive production picked up dramatically. The Hornets hit .300 over the five-game stretch and posted at least nine hits in each of the final four games. Leading the way were Nicole Frayn (.583, 7-for-12), Desiree Beltran (.471, 8-for-17), Kelli Frye (.444, 4-for-9) and Jessica Abelia (.438, 7-for-16), who each hit better than .400 over the five games.

In this morning’s contest, San Jose State pounded out 11 runs and 14 hits off a pair of Hornet pitchers. The Spartans scored in every inning but the third and sixth, and five different players recorded multiple-hit games. It was Fangonilo’s three-run homer that highlighted a four-run second inning and put San Jose State on top, 5-2. She combined to go 7-for-8 with five runs and seven RBIs in two games against the Hornets over the weekend.

Sacramento State cut the deficit to one run when freshman Erin Jones hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third. However, San Jose State immediately responded with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth to put the game away.

The Hornets used 17 players in the game, and only Abelia, Alyssa Nakken and Molly Smith played the entire way. Abelia (3-for-4, three runs) and Jones (2-for-2, two runs, two RBIs) combined to score all five Sacramento State runs. Also finishing with multiple-hit games for the Hornets were Beltran (2-for-3, two RBIs) and Frye (2-for-2).

The Spartans’ Nos. 1-4 hitters of Alyssa Sulay, Kayla Hayes, Fangonilo and Brittany McConnell combined to go 11-for-17 with nine runs scored and nine RBIs. Sulay, Hayes and Fangonilo each scored three runs.

Jaclyn Imhof (4-3) picked up the win, allowing five runs and 10 hits over seven innings. Hornet starter Shelby Voelz (2-6) picked up the loss after working three-plus innings. Jacquelyn Serrano threw the final four innings of relief.

Sacramento State returns to action this Wednesday, March 10, for a home doubleheader with Nevada beginning at 1 p.m.