After SJSU went 0-3 off a tough series against the Washington Huskies, the Spartans won two games against rival Fresno State Bulldogs over the weekend at Excite Ballpark.
The Spartans were scheduled to play a three-game series, but Sunday’s game was postponed because of rain.
SJSU won Friday's game against the Bulldogs 5-3 led by right-handed starting pitcher, Jonathan Clark, who tossed 6.0 innings while allowing the only 3 runs of the game.
Clark now has a 2.81 ERA in 16.0 innings pitched with a 2-1 record on the season.
Center fielder Jack Colette batted 2 for 3 and hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the third.
“It’s always cool to hit a home run at home . . . especially against a rival and a really good pitcher for Fresno State,” Colette said. “I was really excited to get the scoring started for us Friday afternoon.”
Colette said the team had a detailed plan entering the series.
“This week, we had a really good week of preparation for practice going into the Fresno State series,” Colette said. “We worked really hard in the cages all week and we had a pretty detailed plan of how we were gonna go about our business at practice, our drills to get us ready to have a good series offensively.”
Colette is batting .313 through eight games this season.
On Saturday, the Spartans won 6-2 with a solid pitching performance from Micky Thompson, who pitched 6.0 innings, allowing no earned runs.
This was a bounceback start for Thompson, who gave up three runs against University of Washington.
“After the Washington series, our team definitely had a few pieces to put together,” Thompson said. “With a good start by Jonathon on Friday and our bats putting it together, it definitely gave me the confidence to go out and pound the zone and let them put the ball in play.”
He said he gave kudos to second baseman Charles McAdoo and shortstop Theo Hardy for being great up the middle of the infield all weekend.
His efficient pitching was rewarded with offensive support from sluggers McAdoo and Hunter Dorraugh.
McAdoo batted 3 for 4 with three RBIs, while Dorraugh went 2 for 4 and also drove in 3.
“I’m just seeing pitches in the zone that I want to hit and taking my best swings at those pitches,” McAdoo said. “It feels really good to get our first conference series, especially against a rival and, on top of that, a good Fresno team.”
He is the Mountain West conference leader in doubles with 6 doubles this season.
McAdoo is batting .324 with 11 hits and has yet to hit a home run in 34 plate appearances.
Right-handed pitcher Keaton Chase pitched the final 3 innings on Saturday and earned himself his first save of the season.
“I was very excited and happy to get the job done to help my team secure the series win,” Chase said.
Chase is coming off Tommy John surgery, which shut him down from baseball activity for an extended amount of time.
“My mechanics are coming along and getting better every week as I continue to get live game reps, but I still have work to do to be more consistent,” Chase said.
After Saturday's game, SJSU head coach Brad Sanfilippo said he was proud of the team's effort to win.
“Really proud of the effort today, all around a team win in terms of timely hitting at the times we needed it and we got another good start from Micky Thompson,” Sanfilippo said. “Good all around effort against a really good ballclub.”
The Spartans improved their record to 4-4 and have a 2-0 record against Mountain West Conference teams.
SJSU is scheduled to host University of San Francisco Dons at 1:05 p.m. on Tuesday, at Excite Ballpark.
