Photo by Ernie Gonzalez
By Navin Krishnan (@NavinKthespear) — Reporter
The San Jose State Spartans topped the University of Nebraska, Omaha Mavericks 14-11 on Sunday, Feb. 20 with solid defense and dominant hitting to silence their doubters in their fourth game in four days.
“A four game [weekend] is a long weekend. You stay mentally tough, and you stay in the game, and I thought we did that. We needed that effort,” Spartan head coach Brad Sanfilippo said.
San Jose State took three of the four games against the Mavericks.
“For [newcomers] the speed of the game is faster. It’s just repetition and practice. We try to instill fundamentals, to play hard, really. We want to develop toughness and character,” Sanfilippo said.
The Spartans led 6-2 after the fourth inning.
With the momentum surging, Charles McAdoo blasted a grand slam in his first pitch for the inning, boosting the Spartans up 10-5.
“I just saw it, hit it and got to go around the bases. McAdoo said. “Made contact with it, and it just went.”
Hunter Dorraugh went 1 for 3, with 3 RBI.
McAdoo went 4 for 6, with 6 RBI for the game, leading the Spartans when they needed it most.
The Mavericks started to chip away and coach Sanfilippo decided enough was enough as he went to his bullpen and brought in pitcher Carter Heninger to relieve Van Allen.
“Our motto here is ‘next guy up.’ Carter came in, and we kept on rolling,” Van Allen said.
The Mavericks found themselves with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, and the momentum in their favor.
Just when the energy was against the Spartans, freshman pitcher Carter Heninger drilled a fastball right past the Mavericks’ batter to end the threat.
“Carter is a freshman, in his first outing he did a really good job. Really happy with his effort. Very proud for a freshman to go out there and pitch like that,” Sanfilippo said after the win.
The Spartans won the batting battle, with 19 hits to the Mavericks’ 13 hits.
“It was awesome. To see him go to work like that. He puts in a lot of work. Big team win, big team effort,” McAdoo said about Heninger.
The Spartans are just getting their feet wet, and this season is too young to paint a picture or gauge what their fate bodes for their campaigns to come.
“It’s our first week into play, we’re excited,” said Sanfilippo. “But that’s gonna separate us in the end.”
San Jose State is at 3-1 and took the series against University of Nebraska, Omaha.
San Jose State will square off with the University of Northern Colorado on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 3:05 p.m.