By Alex Stoev (@alexstoevsjsu) – Spear Reporter | Senior pitcher Dylan Smith in pitching motion vs UConn (Photo by Alex Stoev – Spear Photographer)
It was tough sledding for San Jose State baseball (10-13, 2-1 MW) in its 8-0 loss to the University of Connecticut (12-13, 0-0 Big East) on Sunday.
With the score tied 0-0 after five innings, the Huskies exploded in the sixth, scoring eight runs in the inning.
Senior pitcher Dylan Smith was having another good game, going five scoreless innings and striking out a season high eight batters. He talked about how it felt achieving a new season high despite the loss.
“It felt good, I’m not usually a strikeout guy so when I see someone swing through a ball, it makes me feel pretty good,” Smith said.
Before Smith was subbed out, a single from Huskies junior designated hitter Tyler Minick and a throwing error put UConn ahead 2-0.
Junior pitcher Landon Marchetti would come into the game right after.
“I just had to go out and compete, throw strikes and do what I could to keep us in the game and give us a chance to win,” Smith said.
Errors played a part during the sixth inning as two of the team’s three errors occurred during the Huskies scoring barrage. The team will look to clean up those mistakes as the team goes more into conference play.
“We know that we’re best when we pitch and play defense,” SJSU head coach Brad Sanfilippo said. “Giving up an eight-spot and getting shut out showed that we were not very good all around and we need to fix that.”
Batting was once again not friendly for the Spartans as they would only finish with five hits. Two of them came from senior right fielder Alex Fernandes and senior left fielder Jake McCoy would also log two hits.
A partial reason for the hitting struggles comes from Huskies junior pitcher Charlie Hale, who came into the game averaging a 1.86 ERA.
Sanfilippo talked about what went through his mind as the Huskies started to pull away during their scoring run.
“We needed somebody to make a play and we just didn’t,” Sanfilippo said. “We didn’t find a way out, we weren’t able to stop the bleeding.
SJSU will get a day’s break before traveling up the freeway to face off against the Santa Clara Broncos at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24 at Stephen Schott Stadium.
