By Alejandra Vaca — Reporter
The San Jose State baseball team (1-2, 1-2 MW) lost the final series game against Mountain West-leading San Diego State (13-6, 8-4 MW) 14-4 Sunday with an interesting fourth inning.
The action began at the top of the fourth inning when SJSU junior pitcher Keaton Chase lost complete command of the strike zone at the top of the fourth with three consecutive walks loading all bases for the Aztecs.
SDSU’s senior Jacob Cruec’s messy swing to Chase’s pitch while freshmen Fisher Pyatt’s pop up to center field left the Aztecs bases loaded.
Spartan junior Ruben Ibarra tied the game 1-1 at the bottom of the fourth after a high fly homer towards center field, making it his first home run of the season.
Chase allowed two runners on base at the top of the fifth and was replaced in the middle of the inning with junior pitcher Ben Polack.
Polack’s pitches looked smiliar to Chase’s and was responsible for loading up the bases again including two walks by pitching hits.
The Spartans could not keep up with the Aztecs offense giving up five runs in the sixth and eighth innings.
SJSU sophomore Robert Hamchuk made an impressive appearance in today’s game as a starter with two hits, a stolen base and a run.
Ibarra finished the game 1-4 with a home run and a RBI.
SJSU freshman Kai Saterstorm made his first collegiate debut playing against former high school teammates Brain Leonhardt, pitcher Ricky Tibbett and Tre Brown. He went one-for-one and an RBI in his first game with the Spartans.
Senior shortstop Ruben Mercado filed out at the top of the fifth inning but earned an RBI in the seventh.
The game ended early after eight innings because of COVID-19 protocols. A game may be stopped after seven innings if one team is ahead by at least 10 runs according to the NCAA 5-8 Regulation Game.
The Spartans have not won a game against the Aztecs since 1999 when both school’s were still members of the WAC.
Despite losing two games, all three starters had solid performances this weekend after not seeing any action for over a year.
SJSU has some work to do this season, but its offense has been productive so far.
The Spartans will welcome the Cal Golden Bears on Tuesday in a non conference matchup, a game they can hope to improve on before their next series game against the Cal Poly Mustangs.
The first pitch will be at 3:00 p.m. at Excite Ballpark.
Fans can stream the game through Mountain West Network live stream.
Follow Alejandra on Twitter @alejandravacas
