By Ernie Gonzalez
It was the bottom of the ninth inning with one on and one out. Moments prior, Shane Timmons hit a two-run shot to left-center to tie the game at five. Stefanki walked, then reached second on a wild pitch. David Campbell was up. Then, out of nowhere, the ball dropped and the Lobos left.
Game over. 5-5 tie.
New Mexico walked off the field to boos by Spartan fans Sunday afternoon because of travel arrangements, afraid they would miss their flight back home.
It’s the 11th tie in SJSU’s history and its first since February 26th, 2005 against BYU .
By definition, the drop-dead time is a rule agreed upon by the coaches and the umpire before the game or series, to respect a team’s travel schedules.
First year head coach Jason Hawkins said the Spartans had a choice as to changing the game’s start time to earlier in the afternoon, but didn’t want to interfere with the clinic that took place early Sunday morning at Municipal Stadium.
“We had three little leagues and 150 kids coming out for a clinic and felt like we owed it to the community to not change the start time ” Hawkins said.
The time agreed upon by both clubs was 4:10 p.m., meaning that regardless of the score at that time, the game would terminate. As the lead grew to two runs in the top-half of the ninth, the chances and the time for the Spartans dimmed.
“It wasn’t looking to good anyway, and then Shane just comes up big,” Hawkins said.
Aaron Pleschner got aboard to lead off the ninth. Timmons brought him in with a two-run blast to left center, tying the game at five.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good at the plate lately, so I was just looking for a fastball to drive and I got it. ”
Hawkins had high words about ‘Timbo’ (Timmons) after the game.
“He’s one of the better hitters I’ve ever coached,” Hawkins said.
It was reminiscent of Game 1 for the Spartans against the Lobos, as they tacked on one run in both the first and second innings, jumping to an early 2-0 lead against New Mexico.
Jake Swiech made his fifth start of the year for SJSU, and cruised through three. But in the fourth, the Lobo bats woke up, scoring four runs on six hits off Swiech.
Joseph Balfour was given the stitches in relief of Swiech, and was solid, tossing four shutout innings through the game’s middle-half.
“I felt pretty good about the outing, and giving us a chance to win the game,” Balfour said postgame.
Zach Wallace took the hill in the eighth, and tossed a perfect inning, keeping the Spartans within one.
“His confidence, his courage, his concentration in really special,” said Hawkins on Wallace.
Hilario Tovar got the ninth-inning call but surrendered back-to back doubles to New Mexico, extending the Lobo lead to two, avoiding the would-be loss from Timmons’ home run in the bottom half of the ninth.
The past two games at Municipal Stadium were polar opposites compared to the beating the Spartans experienced in Albuquerque. SJSU was punished, getting outscored 35-12 in a three-game series at Lobo field last month, but only surrendered six runs in a shortened series in San Jose.
The Spartans will stay in San Jose and host a mid-week matchup against the Stanford Cardinal at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00p.m.