By Mat Bejarano – Spear Editor
Ethan Ross gets ready to throw a pitch against Seattle University on Feb. 23 at Excite Ballpark | Photo by Andrew Hartley- The Spear
San Jose State (3-6, 0-1 MW) baseball team suffered its worst loss of the season when the Spartans got hammered against UNLV (8-1,1-0 MW) 23-5 on Friday.
In their first match up in conference the Spartans were immediately overpowered by the Rebels’ bats as SJSU starting pitcher Ethan Ross gave up 10 runs on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks in ⅔ innings.
The Rebels, who entered Friday’s contest on a seven-game winning streak, would once again start the game red hot driving in 16 runs in just the first inning. This set a school record for most runs scored in a single inning.
“Things got out of hand here in Vegas on Friday night,” SJSU manager Brad Sanfilippo said. “We had some opportunities to play defense and keep it closer than it ended up being.”
Spartans junior pitcher Caden Duke would come in to help finish the first, but would ultimately surrender a handful of runs on his own. In his third outing this season, Duke would end his day giving up eight runs on five hits with three walks and two strikes out in 1 ⅓ innings of work.
SJSU senior Dalton Bowling, who led the Spartans with 12 home runs last season, would put the Spartans on the board with his second homer of this season cutting it to a 19-1 game in the top of the sixth.
SJSU wouldn’t go silently in the ninth inning as Bowling would drive in junior outfielder Robert Hamchuk for his second RBI of the game. The Spartans would go on to score another three runs ending in the top of the ninth ending the game 23-5.
“I and all of us are disappointed in our performance tonight but excited to get back to work tomorrow,” Sanfilippo said.
The second game of the series between the two teams was postponed because of a high-wind warning. The Spartans are set to face off against the Rebels in a doubleheader with the first pitch set at 10:30 a.m. today at Earl E. Wilson Baseball Stadium in Las Vegas.