Charles McAdoo (Photo by Kavin Mistry)
By Matt Weiner (@MattWeiner20) – BSB Beat Reporter
Cal 17 (8-8, 1-2) vs SJSU 5 (9-8, 2-4)
Winning pitcher: Christian Becerra (1-0)
Losing pitcher: Carter Heninger (0-1)
An avalanche, torrential downpour, thunderstorm, however you’d like to phrase it, the Spartans allowed 17 runs to the University of California.
The Spartans had a prime opportunity to complete an eight-run comeback during the early stages of the game, but couldn’t strike while the iron was hot.
Carter Heninger toed the rubber for SJSU and the Golden Bears rocked him, starting out 7-10 from the plate with four extra base hits to drop an eight-spot on the Spartans in the first two innings. It would be the second consecutive game a Spartan starter didn’t finish the second inning and the fourth-straight with at least five-runs allowed.
“Nothing mechanically,” stood out to SJSU pitching coach Seth Moir.
“I think some of that stuff is being a freshman and trying to figure out the game and speed at this level.”
Following a dismal second inning, the Spartans made the game very interesting by scoring five-runs with two outs. Jack Colette led off the inning by slapping a single to the outfield to extend his hitting streak to five-games. Following two quick outs by Cal reliever Sam Stoutenborough, Makana Olaso brought in Colette from second sparking a tidal wave of runners capitalizing on Stoutenborough’s inability to find the strike zone.
Statenborough walked Hardy and Robert Hamchuk to load the bases, then hit Jackson Forbes to bring Olaso in and walked Charles McAdoo to bring Hardy in. The second base knock of the inning came from Dalton Bowling to score Hamchuk and Forbes.
“It was great, we got right back in the game,” said SJSU head coach Brad Sanfilippo. “Proud of the effort to be down 8-0 and turn around and have some quality at bats with two outs.”
Cal yanked the bait they initially cast back by scoring three in the sixth inning, sparked by an error from Theo Hardy at shortstop.
Following the snafu, Kyle Bratset walked Caleb Lomavita and was taken out for Corey Sanchez who allowed three runs to come in although none of them were earned.
Bad turned to embarrassment when the ninth inning came around and the Golden Bears turned Danny Garcia into a huxtable.
Lomavita’s grand slam broadcasts how poor the pitching staff has been over the past four games and a much needed wake up call as well.
The six runs in the ninth, gave Cal a new season high for runs scored in a single game (17) and hits (18).
“It takes a better effort all around obviously, we’ve got to pitch better and we are capable of pitching better,” Sanfilippo said.
