Bulldogs take 2 of 3 in WAC series

Jamie Southern reaches a milestone on Friday before taking a loss in game one of Saturday's doubleheader split

By NATHAN HATHAWAY

It’s always something with Jamie Southern.

If she’s not breaking one record, she’s tying another.

Southern, the All-American pitcher for the Fresno State softball team, topped the 1,200 career strikeout mark in the Bulldogs’ 4-0 Western Athletic Conference home-opener win over San Jose State on Friday.

After this weekend’s series, Southern has 1,211 career strikeouts. The 4-0 win also moved Southern into a tie with former Bulldogs pitcher Amanda Scott for the top spot in career wins among WAC pitchers (106). Then on Saturday, Southern (16-3) moved into a tie with Scott for first place all-time on the WAC’s career saves list with 10. Southern’s save came after freshman Amanda Nesbitt allowed only one run in six innings in Fresno State’s 2-1 win in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Unfortunately for Southern and the Bulldogs, the senior pitcher’s save came on the heels of the Bulldogs’ first WAC loss of the season, a 3-1 contest which dropped Southern to 16-3 and snapped her 11-game winning streak in Saturday’s first game.

The Bulldogs managed only three hits in game one, highlighted by an RBI double by junior slugger Christina Clark. The double helped break Clark out of an uncharacteristic dry spell. The junior, who is leading the team with a .372 average, had hit safely in only one of her previous eight at-bats. Senior third baseman Leticia Pacheco and freshman first baseman Shauna Johnson accounted for the other two Fresno State hits in the loss.

Game two was a different story, and the tables were turned slightly as Nesbitt, who had allowed 21 runs in her previous 18 and two-thirds innings, followed up a Southern loss with a four-hit effort to get the win and improve to 7-5.

“[Nesbitt] keeps [batters] off-balance very well,” Bulldogs coach Margie Wright said. “She looks very confident on the mound.”

Nesbitt gave up only one run on a home run by San Jose State junior shortstop Carlie Hill.

“We made a mistake on the pitch,” Wright said. “We should have thrown something else and kept it in the park.”

The Bulldogs again strung together only three hits, but this time they made them count. After Southern, in the game as the designated player, reached on a fielder’s choice in the first inning, sophomore catcher Nichole Willis legged out a triple to drive in Southern. Four innings later, sophomore left fielder Rachael Donaldson led off with a home run that just cleared the left field fence. It was Donaldson’s fourth home run and team-leading 27th RBI of the season. Donaldson, who hit .243 with two home runs and 10 RBIs all of last year, has blossomed this season, thriving in the sixth spot in the batting order.

“You get looked at different by players on the other team (when you’re hitting well),” said Donaldson, who hit in the eighth spot for most of last season. “When you move up (in the batting order), you feel [coach] is recognizing your improvement, so I must be doing something right.”

San Jose State senior pitcher Carol Forbes pitched all three games in the series, going 1-2 and dropping to 18-15 for the season. Forbes threw 254 pitches in the series.

Junior center fielder Courtney Lewis and junior designated player Jessica Guillen each went 3 for 8 in the series for the Spartans, and Johnson, the Bulldogs’ freshman first baseman, went 3 for 6 to lead Fresno State.