BOISE, Idaho - Boise State softball had not played at home in nearly two years, on Friday that streak of 697 days between home games came to an end as the Broncos swept a Mountain West doubleheader from the San Diego State Aztecs by 2-1 and 5-1 scores. Three Broncos led the offensive charge with home runs, Kelsey Lalor hit one in each game for a total of six this season, while Bella Rocco and Jordyn Hutchins added one each on the day.
The wins improved Boise State to 9-13 overall and 2-3 in conference play with the final game of the three-game series scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday at Dona Larsen Park. The Broncos — who never trailed on Friday — have now won three straight as they head into the heart of MW play.
In all, Boise State out scored the Aztecs 7-2 with 13 hits to 12 for SDSU. Rocco led the team with three hits in the doubleheader followed by Hutchins, Bobbiann Pratt, Ashlyn Adams and Lalor with two each, while Karlee Johnson hit one.
The Bronco pitchers were solid as well holding the Aztecs to the two runs and 12 hits. Sara Johnson earned the win in game one and recorded her second save of the season in game two, while Hannah Bailey picked up her team-high fifth win in the second contest.
"I'm really proud of the girls today, I think we did a really good job of learning from the previous at bats and really stringing along some hits," said senior leader Alison Seng. "We had some clutch hitting from some young girls on the team, which I really enjoyed seeing. I think that we're gonna be a tough team to play in the conference this year."
Coach Huffaker on today's offensive performance, "We've worked really hard in the last couple of weeks just kind of buying into aggressiveness, swinging hitter's counts and kind of freeing ourselves up. We've been trying to do too much and trying too hard, instead of understanding and playing the game a little bit."
Huffaker's thoughts in general about the team's play Friday, "Fantastic, all the way around today, you saw all three phases of the game, offense, really good pitching and good defense. We swung the bat enough to get it done in both games, obviously a little more in game two than game one and it could have been a little more comfortable for us, we left a few on base. But definitely did enough with the bats to get it done, our pitching and defense are giving us chances to be able to win close ballgames."
GAME 1 RECAP: Boise State 2, San Diego State 1
The scoring in game one came late in the contest as both teams struggled to string any hits together in the first three innings. San Diego State tallied one more hit than the Broncos in the game seven to six, but Boise State won the contest 2-1.It's great to be home! π ππ
The Broncos took the 2-1 win over the Aztecs with 2️⃣ homers from Lalor and Rocco π₯π₯πͺ pic.twitter.com/6pXn9slLwi
— Boise State Softball (@BroncoSportsSB) April 2, 2021
Each team recorded hits in the first and third innings but failed to bring any runners across the plate. In the first inning, Adams singled up the middle but was left stranded on third base. In the third, Adams singled again, this time to left field. Unfortunately, the Broncos left both Seng — who walked — and Adams on second and first base, respectively.
Lalor started the fourth frame off by sending the first pitch she faced over the right field fence to spot the Broncos a 1-0 lead with her fifth homer of the year.
After San Diego State tied the game up at 1-1 with a home run in the top of the fifth, Boise State answered in the bottom half of the frame. With one out, Rocco hit her first homer of the season over the right field wall to score the game-winning run that put the Broncos up 2-1.
GAME 2 RECAP: Boise State 5, San Diego State 1
The second game saw the Broncos jump out to a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, then held off a SDSU rally attempt that cut the advantage to 2-1 in the fifth. Boise State responded with three more runs in the sixth that put the game out of reach 5-1.Boise State brought the π₯π₯π₯ today with a 5-1 win over the Aztecs in game 2!
The Broncos are back at Dona Larsen park at 12 PM MT tomorrow. π₯ππ΄ pic.twitter.com/UTBg1GJJ1K
— Boise State Softball (@BroncoSportsSB) April 2, 2021
With two out in the bottom of the first, Rocco singled up the middle. She was followed by Hutchins who hammered her fourth home run of the year down the right field line to make it 2-0 Broncos.
After each team tallied a hit in the second — with Bobbiann Pratt recording Boise State's with a single up the middle — neither team managed much offense until the top of the fifth.
San Diego State loaded the bases in the fifth with no outs. Enter Sara Johnson for Hannah Bailey at pitcher for the Broncos. Johnson walked her first batter to load the bases, then went to work. She struck out the next two Aztec batters before San Diego State managed to score on a single to the left side that brought one runner across the plate and left the bases loaded. Johnson then proceeded to strikeout SDSU's Jillian Celis to get the Broncos out of the jam.
Boise State answered in the bottom of the sixth with three runs to stretch its lead out to the final 5-1 win margin. It started with Rocco doubling to left center, followed by Hutchins being hit by a pitch to put Broncos on first and second. Next up was Lalor who smashed her sixth homer of the year over left center to make it a four-run advantage for the Blue and Orange.
"I thought we were really good last weekend after BYU, we really felt like we got some stuff figured out so it's nice to come out here at DLP (Dona Larsen Park) in our first home games of the season and get a couple wins," said Lalor. "It's a really good feeling to hit the home runs. I mean it's something we've been working for and it's just an awesome feeling to come up and get a big hit when your team needs it. But Bella Rocco was huge too in the first game, her first home run of the year. Jordan Hutchins did the same in the second game, those two were big for us today."
SDSU tried to rally in the seventh with two straight singles to open the inning, but Johnson stood in there. She recorded the first out when she fielded a sacrifice bunt and threw to first. Then with Aztec runners on second and third, she finished it off with two straight strikeouts, ending the game with six to earn the save.
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April 03, 2021 at 09:38AM
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Home Sweet Home, Broncos Sweep Doubleheader Versus San Diego State - broncosports.com
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