Long Beach State University
San José State
Cielo Meza Strikes Out 15 In 2-1 Win Over San Jose State
3/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Fullerton, Calif. - Freshman pitcher Cielo Meza joined Christina Clermont and Brooke Turner for a share of Long Beach State's seven-inning strikeout record, fanning a career-high 15 batters on the way to a 2-1 win over San Jose State Friday night.
The Beach took an early lead, scoring in the first inning. LT Torres hit a leadoff double, and was pushed around by two groundouts to the right side, the RBI going to Haley Tobler as Long Beach State (11-7) took a 1-0 lead.
Tobler came through with another RBI groundout in the third inning. After singles to start the inning from Hannah Cookson and Torres, Nichole Fry drew a walk and a hard grounder to short brought home Cookson to double the 49er lead.
That was more than enough for Meza in a dominant effort over San Jose State (5-15). Picking up strikeouts for nine of the first ten Spartan outs, Meza allowed only two hits on the day while walking three.
The Spartans threatened in the top of the seventh inning, as Jessica Madrid led off the inning with a walk, and then scored on a double from Madison Aurin, leaving a runner in scoring position to tie the game with one out.
Meza responded by striking out the final two batters of the game, improving to 5-4 on the season. The freshman joins Clermont and Turner as the only pitchers to record 15 strikeouts in seven innings – a mark reached twice by Clermont and once by Turner. Turner holds
Long Beach State will play one more game in Fullerton tomorrow, facing North Carolina at 12:30 p.m., and then closes out the Judi Garman Classic with a home game on Sunday, hosting Wisconsin at 9 a.m. at the LBSU Softball Complex.
