Softball clinches another WAC championship
STAFF REPORT / The Collegian
The Fresno State softball team clinched its second straight Western Athletic Conference championship, and eighth in 10 years, with a three-game sweep of Nevada over the weekend.
The sweep completed a flawless record on the road against WAC competition this season. The Bulldogs (38-10, 14-1 WAC) won the weekend series by a combined score of 29-4, highlighted by a 14-0 series-opening win.
Once again, the Bulldogs’ big four of Jamie Southern, Christina Clark, Nichole Willis and Leticia Pacheco led the way for Fresno State. The group combined for 25 of the Bulldogs’ 41 hits in the series, including four home runs. The four also racked up 20 runs and 16 RBIs.
Two of those home runs came off the bat of Clark, the Bulldogs’ junior slugger who moved into a tie for 15th on the NCAA’s career home run list with her 14th homer of the year.
Southern also figured into each of the wins on the mound. The senior All-American improved to 24-3 on the season with two wins this weekend and got her WAC career-best 11th save.
In Friday’s first game, the Bulldogs pieced together an eight-run seventh inning to blow out the Wolf Pack.
Freshman Jenna Cervantez hit her first career home run and ended up 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Clark went 2 for 3 with two runs scored.
In Friday’s second game, freshman Amanda Nesbitt pitched five innings, allowing three runs and improving to 8-5. Southern pitched two innings, striking out two, to get her third save of the year. Pacheco went 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI in the 5-3 win.
Clark, Pacheco and senior Kristy Villaseñor combined to go 9 for 9 in Saturday’s game, scoring six runs in the 10-1 win and combining to knock in five.
Fresno State closes out the regular season Friday and Saturday with a three-game series against Texas-El Paso at Bulldog Diamond. The Bulldogs sit three and a half games in front of second-place Hawaii heading into the final weekend of the season.
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