Softball earns a split

No. 23 Fresno State beat No. 5 Stanford 4-1 before losing 14-0

Staff Report / The Collegian

Jamie Southern led the No. 23 Fresno State softball team to a split with No. 5 Stanford in Monday night’s doubleheader at Bulldog Diamond.

Southern got it done in the pitching circle and at the plate in a 4-1 Bulldogs victory in the opening game.

The All-American pitched a three-hitter and struck out seven while improving to 11-2 on the season. She was 1 for 2 batting and knocked in two of the Bulldogs’ runs.

Fresno State scored all four of its runs in the second inning. Stanford pitcher Laura Severson walked in a run with one out and the bases loaded before Rachael Donaldson and Shauna Johnson each scored on fielder’s choices. Southern’s two-run single made it 4-0 Bulldogs.

Stanford center fielder Catalina Morris led off the fourth inning with a triple before Laura Lappin hit a sacrifice fly to account for the Cardinal’s only run of Game 1.

Southern moved up to No. 15 on the NCAA Division I career strikeout list with 1,159 and No. 35 in career victories with her 101st.

The nightcap was drastically different, as Fresno State endured its worst loss of the year, 14-0 in five innings.

The Bulldogs (21-8) used three pitchers. Amanda Nesbitt gave up five earned runs in her only inning before Amanda Wolf tossed two innings and gave up three earned runs and Laura Ferreira gave up five more in the last two innings.

The Bulldogs’ only hit of the game came from Southern, as Stanford improved to 24-5.

Morris and Lindsay Key each hit home runs for Stanford in Game 2 as the Cardinal scored in every inning except the third.

Nesbitt took the loss, dropping to 4-4 on the season.

Fresno State begins Western Athletic Conference play when it heads to Hawaii for a single game Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday. The Bulldogs return home April 16 to host a non-conference doubleheader against UNLV.