Jenessa Ullegue improved to 14-4 with a new single game career high of nine strikeouts in San Jose State's 5-0 win over Utah State on Friday, April 26, 2019.

SAN JOSE -- It took over two hours due to an unusual sunlight delay, but Jenessa Ullegue showed how she earned the top starting pitcher spot for San Jose State Spartans softball.

On a mild Friday night, Ullegue pitched a complete game win with a new single game career high of nine strikeouts while scattering three hits, improving to 14-4 in her freshman season. Making 11 hits and taking advantage of two errors, San Jose State shut out the visiting Utah State Aggies 5-0 at the Spartan Softball Complex. Taking the loss, Delaney Hull (9-11) also pitched a complete game.

"They knew my pitch calls before we went in. They knew that I was mostly going to throw curveballs," said Ullegue.

Neither team scored in the first three innings, even as San Jose State had three hits to Utah State's one. Not only was this the third straight win for San Jose State but also the third straight game with 10 or more hits.

"Good hitting [but] poor timely hitting," San Jose State head coach Peter Turner described the offensive performance.

"We get people on base. We're not moving the ball. We're inconsistent, and [we have] poor base running. It has plagued us most of the year," added Turner. San Jose State stranded nine on base, while Utah State left seven.

In the fourth, the offense finally came together. Kaelin Amrein got a one-out single after she beat the throw from second base. The bases were loaded after singles by the two Alyssas -- freshman Alyssa Graham and senior Alyssa Avila. San Jose State took a 1-0 lead off a sacrifice fly by Makayla Englestad. The lead went up to 2-0 off an error, when a Rayohna Sagapolu grounder bounced off the glove of Kennedy Hira at third base, allowing Graham to score.

Soon after that play, the downside showed of holding a night game on a west-facing field. At 7:05 p.m., the umpire suspended play because of excessive sunlight towards home plate. The "sun delay" lasted around 27 minutes, and the game resumed once the sun was low enough that the center field trees could block it.

Graham went a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate, including a fifth inning RBI double that extended the lead to 3-0. San Jose State scored twice in the sixth, first off a Madison Aurin RBI double that bounced past the reach of a diving Mia Maher at right field, then off an error by the same player. With two outs, Maher dropped what should have been a regular fly ball, allowing Ullegue to reach third and Aurin to score from second. Because of an off-target throw from right to third, Ullegue wanted to run all the way to home but was stopped by the third base coach.

The seventh inning threatened to end the shutout. Leadoff batter Kennedy Hira was hit by a pitch and advanced to third off a wild pitch and sacrifice fly. Graham nearly committed an error on a ground ball at third but picked it up and made a run-saving throw to home for the second out. However, a throw to first did not catch the wandering base runner out. After that play, Turner entered the field to hold a meeting with the infield.

"I told them they were getting real sloppy. We were playing down to their level...That ball out there should've been caught. You can't do this with a one-run game," explained Turner.

San Jose State improves to 30-15 (10-6 Mountain West), while Utah State drops to 13-26 (4-14 MW) and has lost seven straight. The series continues on Saturday and Sunday. Because MW leader Colorado State beat San Diego State 9-0 on Friday and moved up to 16-3 in conference, San Jose State maintained its second place distance. Only by winning out in conference with Colorado State losing at least four times in the next five games will San Jose State be able to earn an automatic NCAA tournament bid by way of sole possession of first place.

Because of a death in his family, Utah State head coach Steve Johnson did not travel with the team, according to a team spokesperson. Assistant coaches Laura Heberling and Jo Koons have head coaching duties for Utah State throughout this series.