By Oscar Acevedo: The Spartans could not recover from a Lobos’ five-run inning and New Mexico (11-3, 6-0) completed the sweep.
The Lobos beat San Jose State 8-3 on Sunday in Albuquerque.
One of the keys to the Spartans’ (6-8, 2-4 in MW) loss was that they could not find consistent pitching and sent six different hurlers to the mound.
SJSU started off with a 1-0 lead after a Kyle Blakeman single, but New Mexico answered back with a two-run inning and kept piling on from there.
The largest of San Jose State’s woes came in the sixth inning when it called up four different pitchers and still could not stop the Lobos from taking a 7-2 lead.
The Spartans’ offense was also lacking and despite finishing with more hits than New Mexico, SJSU left 10 runners on base.
Other usually consistent Spartans didn’t perform well against New Mexico.
Shortstop Aaron Pleschner, catcher Joseph Stefanki and outfielder Kellen Strahm — all hitting over .300 on the season — only managed three hits in 14 at bats.
On the other hand, infielder Justin Beck scored two runs and hit an RBI single, taking part in all of the runs scored by SJSU and finishing 3-4 at the plate.
The Spartans’ weaknesses were exposed, struggling in each aspect of the game.
The lowest run total SJSU conceded in this series was eight and the highest the Spartans scored was eight.
The offense and defense need to find consistent success to keep games within reach for the Spartans, especially in contests against conference opponents.
If they can’t find a solution to the bullpen, the Spartans will not be able to pull themselves out of their 2-4 start in the Mountain West.
The Spartans will need to regain their focus and work out their bullpen issues as their next game at Cal State Fullerton will be Tuesday at 4 p.m.