By Brianna Huffmaster (@bhuffmaster2024) – Spear Reporter
Micky Thompson in position to throw a pitch | Photo by Christian Vieyra – The Spear
San Jose State (3-9, 0-2 MW) baseball came up short for the second game against UNLV (9-2, 2-1 MW) in Las Vegas.
It was a close game at the very end, but the Spartans lost 7-8.
The SJSU pitching rotation continues to struggle. Micky Thompson started the game and ended with a final stat line of nine hits, six runs, and five strikeouts through five innings pitched. Casey Spencer and Cade Van Allen came in for relief. The pitching cost the Spartans the game as they lost by only one run.
Offensively, the first run SJSU scored was in the third inning when Hunter Dorraugh hit an RBI triple.
It wasn’t until the sixth inning where the offense started to heat up for the Spartans. All of the runs came through RBIs and UNLV defensive errors.
Nathan Cadena started off the RBI rally with a single to score Sebastian Orduno. The UNLV error came when the bases were loaded for the Spartans. Jackson Forbes was able to reach second base and Kimo Fukofuka advanced to third. This resulted in Matt Spear and Cadena scoring.
Robert Hamchuk took quick advantage of the error by hitting a 2-run RBI triple to tie the game 6-6. The Spartans eventually got a one run lead with an RBI triple from Theo Hardy.
The sixth inning rally wasn’t enough for the Spartans to beat their Mountain West rival, as the Rebels scored two more runs to secure the lead.
“You lose a one run game, I really thought we had a chance to win a series today,” SJSU head coach Brad Sanfilippo said. “Not super happy with where we’re at right now.”
This game was originally supposed to be played Saturday afternoon. It got pushed to Sunday morning due to weather.
SJSU baseball will finish the weekend with another game against UNLV as part of a doubleheader. The team will then take a short road trip from San Jose to Moraga, Calif. to play against Saint Mary’s on Tuesday.