By Chris Estrada (@estradadotc ):
After blowing out Fresno State (12-8, 3-6 MW) 10-1 in game one of the double header, San Jose State baseball could only get four hits in the second game in a 6-3 loss, splitting Sunday’s slate.
SJSU did take two of the three from the Bulldogs however, inching closer to that .500 mark with an 8-10 start 18 games into the 2018 season.
Just like in game one, SJSU (8-10, 2-6 MW) drew first blood in the first inning. After a Brett Bautista and Shane Timmons walk, Chris Williams singled up the middle scoring Bautista and giving the Spartans an early 1-0 lead.
That lead was short lived. Spartans starter Nicholas Morales struggled with command and was not fooling the Bulldog hitters. Morales allowed four runs in his outing and could not escape the third inning.
A walk and single in the second set up a Miles Tomczak three-run homerun giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. In the third inning, the Bulldogs rallied again and the fourth run off Morales came home on a groundout.
Up until the fifth inning the Spartans had been held to two hits. SJSU had their best chance to tie or even take the lead in the fifth.
Pleschner got the rally started with a walk and advanced to second before scoring on a Kellen Strahm single.
The Spartans followed by loading the bases with one-out for David Campbell. He couldn’t get the big hit but reached on a fielder’s choice allowing Strahm to score and make it a 4-3 game.
That would be the last of the scoring for SJSU.
Zach Wallace came in for relief in the sixth inning and pitched a solid 2.1 innings. He was removed in the eighth inning after Fresno State coach Mike Batesole complained about an equipment issue with Wallace’s glove.
In the same inning, there was a play at third were Campbell seemed to tag out Bulldog pinch runner Nolan Dempsey, however the umpire never did signal out and Dempsey trotted home after Campbell threw to first to try to get the runner out there.
Coach Sanfilippo and Campbell both could not believe it and let the umps hear it.
The Spartans got a runner on base in the final two innings but nothing else.
After getting their first conference series win of the year, SJSU will finish the homestand against Dartmouth tomorrow at 3 p.m.
