NM State continued to dominate the competition, scoring runs in all but the fifth inning.
“I thought our offense set the tone early and did a great job of attacking their plan,” head coach Kathy Rodolph said. “We had another solid day defensively. Karysta Donisthorpe held a nationally ranked offense to two hits, and Makayla McAdams did a nice job of closing things out.”
Starting Spartan pitcher Katelyn Linford received the loss after giving up the first nine runs. She moved to 2-3 on the season.
After the first hit by San Jose State, Brennalyn Nakamura aggressively picked off the runner at first as she rounded the base setting the tone for the Aggies defensively.
The second hit of the day for the Spartans followed in the third inning by the two-hole hitter Jessica Madrid, but she was left stranded by the following hitter.
Spartans non-starting pitcher, Berlyn Rippentrop, came into the circle with Staci Rodriguez on first and no outs. She proceeded to walk her the next two hitter she faced (Finau and Lacey Rother) to load the bases. Kelsey Dodd, then, entered the batters box, smashing a grand slam on the second pitch thrown during the at bat, catapulting the Aggies to a 13-run lead.
San Jose was unable to compete with the Aggie offense, resulting in a run-rule at the end of five complete innings.
Karysta Donisthorpe was credited with the win, while Makayla McAdams entered the game in the fifth inning to close out the competition. The win against San Jose brought Donisthorpe’s record to 12-2 on the season and 2-0 on the weekend.
Donisthorpe pitched 10.2 total innings during the classic, resulting in a 0.00 ERA for the two wins combined (UNLV and San Jose). She held her opponents to a .147 batting average.
The Aggies play back in Las Cruces on Wednesday as they take on I-10 rivals UTEP at 6 p.m.