By Daniel Reedy:
For the second year in a row, the Spartans beat the Lobos on a Friday night in the first game of a three-game series at Municipal Stadium.
San Jose State won 2-1 as starting pitcher Matt Brown — despite walking five and plunking five batters — tossed seven innings of one-run, one-hit ball against one of the top hitting teams in the nation. Reliever Josh Goldberg allowed a pair of hits in the ninth but closed the game out by forcing a double play, stranding a runner at third.
In 2016, the Spartans were also victorious in one-run fashion, beating the Lobos 9-8 in Game 1 of that series. Earlier in that season, the Lobos had swept SJSU in New Mexico — just as they did earlier this year.
However, these were very different ball games as far as output is concerned. Last season’s contest boasted 25 hits and 17 runs. Today’s game featured just 5 hits for each team — and Shane Timmons had three of them for the Spartans.
Third baseman and last year’s Mountain West Player of the Year Carl Stajduhar went 2 for 4, knocking in the only run for the visiting Lobos. He is batting .336 and is one of three Lobos to start every game this season. In last year’s Friday matchup, Stajduhar went 1 for 3 with 2 RBIs and 2 runs score.
Lobos starter Tyler Stevens threw 6⅓ frames, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) and walked four. He was relieved by Carson Schneider who threw in last year’s Friday game. In addition to Timmons, Michael Breen and Corey Olivet picked up the Spartans only other hits.
Brown improves to 3-4 with the win, throwing a career-high seven innings.
The Lobos stranded 12 runners and went hitless through the first four frames.
Spartans catcher Joe Stefanki went 0 for 4, but gunned down runners on two of New Mexico’s four attempted steals. SJSU leads the conference in stolen bases allowed.
Even with the Friday heroics, the Spartans have won just two of their last 12 games against the Lobos.
Game 2 is scheduled for tomorrow at 4 p.m. again at Municipal Stadium.