By Felix Peterson (@_felixpetersson )
San Jose State baseball followed up Friday’s extra innings win against the University of New Mexico with a close 5-4 win on Saturday.
In Friday night’s game, the Spartans (18-22, 8-11 MW) took the win from behind. This time, the team took control over the match from the start, scoring the first run in the second inning and added two more in the third.
Junior pitcher Andrew Mitchel started by throwing three perfect innings. The Spartans looked hard to beat.
“I was happy with the way my team defence played,” Mitchel said. “They make me comfortable and they make it easy.”
New Mexico (15-26-1, 1-8-15 MW) only got on the board from two home runs. First, a one-run homer was hit in the fourth and later, a three-run home run came in the sixth.
This tightened the score, 5-4.
“It was a bit opposite of last night,” said head coach Brad Sanfilippo.
He said the runs are something the team has to expect, and it didn’t make him more nervous than usual.
“I’m always nervous,” Sanfilippo said with a smile, “but I still had confidence putting Mitchel back out on the field … and the team was able to hang on.”
The last three innings were scoreless on both sides. Junior pitcher Justin Watland threw the last two innings for the Spartans and struck out New Mexico’s last hitter..
“It was a good win, a tight close win,” said sophomore catcher Johnny Mendoza after the game while his teammates fooled around behind him and continued the celebration.
Seniors Brett Bautista and Chris Williams led the Spartans in offence with one run, two hits and one RBI each.
Last match in the three game series against New Mexico is scheduled for Sunday at 12 p.m.