By Nick Romeo — Content Editor
San Jose State Spartans baseball dug themselves a hole they couldn’t climb out of.
The Spartans lost to the University of San Francisco Dons 9-8 in their first home game following a 14-game road trip.
San Jose State fell behind early after allowing four runs in the first two innings, and found themselves down 8-3 by the end of the fourth inning.
Jack Winkler proved to be a problem for the Spartans pitching staff all game long. He finished with three hits, a home run and six RBIs for the Dons.
Ben Polack pitched well in relief for SJSU following the offensive onslaught by the Dons through four innings. He threw three scoreless frames and gave up two hits, struck out three and walked one.
The Spartans began chipping away at the Dons lead, but it wasn’t enough to turn the game around.
The Spartans scored twice in the sixth inning and capitalized on an error by the Dons’ first baseman, Christian Stapleton to bring the score to 8-5.
Ruben Ibarra then hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to two for San Jose State.
The Spartans looked like they had a chance entering the ninth inning, but they couldn’t climb all the way back after making it a one-run game.
The loss is the Spartans’ 10th in a row and brings their record to 6-23. Their last win was May 2 against UC Davis. The Spartans haven’t won at home since March 30 against California where they won 10-7.
The Spartans have an upcoming three-game series at home against the University of New Mexico Lobos before heading on the road to end the season. The series against the Lobos begins Saturday at 1 p.m. at Excite Ballpark.
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