Despite a two-run rally in the ninth inning, San Jose State baseball dropped the first game of the series 8-7 against UC Riverside.
The Spartans (14-22, 6-11 MW) and the Highlanders (15-17, 4-5 BW) both finished with 13 hits each and scored nine combined runs in the fifth inning.
“The team showed fight,” interim head coach Brad Sanfilippo said to SJSU Athletics. “We got a four-run inning, but we have to hold onto that lead.”
Senior right hander Josh Goldberg pitched 4.2 innings and gave up seven of the eight runs, including home runs by junior catcher Anthony Lepre and junior first baseman Yeager Taylor.
Spartans got off to an early 1-0 start with a RBI single by senior first baseman Shane Timmons to put him at 40 RBIs on the year.
After the Highlanders answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning, the Spartans took a 5-2 lead in the fifth inning. A bases-loaded walk followed by a bases-clearing double by senior third baseman David Campbell gave the Spartans the three-run lead.
The lead was short lived. UCR went on to score five runs on five hits in the bottom of the same inning to give it a 7-5 lead.
A single, a double and a RBI single brought the team within one run in the ninth, Spartans designated hitter Conner Konishi grounded out to the short to end the game.
Spartan senior second baseman Kyle Morrison, who went 2-for-4 with a RBI in the game, is 16-for-36 with 10 RBIs in his last nine games, including a nine-game hitting streak.
SJSU looks to snag the second game of the series tomorrow at 6 p.m., with junior left hander Andrew Mitchel on the mound.