After starting the season with a dismal five-game skid, the San Jose State baseball team triumphed for the third straight game Tuesday with a 13-10 win over the University of San Francisco.
SJSU (3-5) wasted no time building a huge lead on USF (2-6). Despite spotting two outs to the Dons’ freshman pitcher Eric Reyzelman in the bottom of the second, the Spartans opened up an offensive barrage.
“We got to be able to put our foot on the throat. Don’t let up, and put them away early instead of giving them life,” sophomore pitcher Ben Polack said.
With a walk to sophomore catcher Ryan Belluomini and a single from junior infielder Santiago Cantu, the Spartans appeared to rattle Reyzelman. He seemed to lose control, giving up an RBI single and allowing another run to cross the plate on a wild pitch.
With two runners on, sophomore infielder Ruben Ibarra stepped up to the dish and delivered. He smashed his second home run of the young season, putting the Spartans up 5-0.
“There were a lot of different guys that chipped in, some two-out hits from different guys,” head coach Brad Sanfilippo said. “[Ibarra] had a big swing right there.”
USF’s starter was then removed after giving up five earned runs in just 1 2-3 innings pitched.
Polack had a considerably stronger outing than his USF counterpart. He gave up four hits in three full innings, while striking out five Dons’ batters. He allowed just 1 run on a third inning RBI single from USF senior catcher Robert Emery.
“[The] offense gave me a lot of confidence early on,” Polack said. “Just try to go in there and throw strikes, get the game going, don’t let my defense get complacent.”
The Dons added 3 total runs in the fourth and fifth innings off Spartan freshman Trevor Allen and junior Dom Eberle respectively. After building a big lead, the Spartans were suddenly ahead by just a single run.
“You can’t get complacent especially when you get up big and you kind of feel comfortable,” senior infielder Troy Viola said. “A team could just chip one at a time, and all of sudden by the ninth inning they’re making it in the game.”
Right on cue, the Spartans slammed their feet on the gas in the fifth inning.
Thanks to a pair of walks and a single, SJSU loaded the bases. The Spartans then took a ride on the merry-go-round with a walk and hit-by-pitch pushing in a pair of runs.
A single from freshman outfielder Robert Hamchuk sealed the deal for a 4-run inning – all occurring with two outs.
The sixth inning was deja vu for the Spartans. They tacked on 4 more runs, highlighted by a two-run single from Viola.
In a two-inning span, the Spartans bumped their lead from 5-4 to 13-4.
The Dons, however, didn’t go away quietly.
In the eighth, they pushed 5 runs across the plate. They added another in the ninth but it was for naught, as the Dons simply couldn’t keep up with the Spartans’ red-hot bats.
The midweek single-game set topped off an impressive offensive stretch for SJSU. The Spartans have now scored 30 runs over the last few games, in big part to Ibarra. After his two-hit, 3 RBI and 3-run performance, he now has 5 RBIs and 6 runs to pair with a .414 batting average.
“He’s hit fastballs, he’s hit breaking balls, he’s used the whole field,” Sanfilippo said. “He’s really been kind of a monster.”
The Spartans resume their homestand Friday when they kick off a four-game series against Utah Valley University.
