By Marissa Scott
San Jose State baseball put an end to its season in a 9-2 loss to UNLV in a Mountain West Championship Tournament elimination game Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans (27-30) allowed two innings with four or more runs to solidify the loss to the Rebels (35-23).
Senior right hander Jake Swiech took the bump for the Spartans and was pulled after he allowed five runs while only getting two outs. The last time the starter gave up more than one run was also against UNLV in early May.
A double to left field started the five-run rally for the Rebels, followed shortly by a bases-loaded walk and a bases-clearing double by freshman first baseman Jack-Thomas Wold. Wold finished 2-for-4 with four RBI.
Neither team would score until UNLV tacked on more runs with four one-run singles in the fifth to give the team a 9-0 lead.
Although the Spartans strung together 11 base hits, they were only able to score two runs off a two-run single by sophomore center fielder Kellen Strahm in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore catcher Johnny Mendoza went 4-for-4 with a run scored.
Big innings have plagued the Spartans in the early part of the season and it came back to haunt them in the elimination game.
In a season that played out unexpectedly, the Spartans went further than many anticipated them to go and swung through adversity.
The 2018 Spartans, who finished 16-14 in conference play and 27-30 overall, had the most conference wins since 2008 and the most overall wins since 2011.
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