By Marissa Scott (@marissascotttt ):
San Jose State baseball hopes to stretch its two-game win streak to three when it welcomes Cal Poly San Luis Obispo tonight to Municipal Stadium.
Both teams will throw freshmen on the bump tonight, as Spartan Walker Brinkman and Mustang Austin Dondanville will be making their first collegiate starts.
Brinkman has made two appearances out of the bullpen this season against Northern Colorado and Santa Clara. In 5.1 innings, he has given up two earned runs off of three hits and struck out four batters.
Dondanville has pitched 3.2 innings in three appearances out of the bullpen for Cal Poly. He has given up four runs off of seven hits and has an ERA of 4.91.
The Spartans (4-4) last played the Mustangs (2-3) for a three-game series in San Luis Obispo two seasons ago and took two of three games. It was SJSU’s first and only winning series of that season.
In the Spartans’ previous two games this season, they scored 11 runs on 17 hits. Their bullpen pitched 9.1 shutout innings to jump the team back to .500.
The Mustangs are coming off an 8-1 win against the University of Michigan at the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament in San Diego on Sunday.
Cal Poly has a combined team ERA of 4.65 and SJSU needs to take advantage of the offensive spark it had leaving the doubleheader sweep on Sunday to keep the energy flowing.
The first pitch is set for 5 p.m.