By Taylor Lupetti
It was a loss for the Spartans tonight at Municipal Stadium as they took on the Stanford Cardinal losing 9-3.
Stanford (18-10) played a calculated game.
Cardinal starter Erik Miller pitched three scoreless innings, only giving up one hit to SJSU (12-18-1). They then utilized four more pitchers from their bullpen, who gave up seven hits combined.
The first frame ended scoreless marking the only time the game was close.
The Cardinal put up five runs in the top of the second planting themselves far ahead of the Spartans and never looked back.
“I didn’t think we played well from start to finish,” said head coach Jason Hawkins.
The Spartans crossed home plate for the first time in the sixth inning when Aaron Pleschner singled, advanced all the way to third on a wild pitch and eventually scored when Chris Williams singled down the middle.
Pleschner came up again in the seventh hitting a double to center field, bringing in Kellen Strahm and Kyle Morrison, ending the night’s scoring for the Spartans
Hawkins said the team was out of the contest, feeling that one pitch could change the tide of the game. While the opportunity did present itself, the Spartans were not able to get what they needed.
“I actually thought he (Joseph Stefanki) got a great pitch tonight,” Hawkins said. “But he didn’t do much with it and that was disappointing.”
The Spartans are traveling to Nevada to take on the Wolfpack this weekend in a three-game series. First pitch will be thrown Thursday at 6 p.m.
