The San Jose State baseball team missed the mark in the first game of its doubleheader against Fresno State.
The Spartans (4-8, 2-3 MW) faced the Bulldogs (11-19, 8-12 MW) on Saturday for back-to-back games at Excite Ballpark in San Jose. Game 1 began at 1:00 p.m. and proved to be a slow start for both teams.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the third when the Bulldog’s put up the game’s first run. Bulldog’s center fielder EJ Andrews Jr. hit a flyball into right-center field allowing designated hitter Emilio Nogales to run home.
Shortly after, Fresno scored a second time after third baseman Andrew Kachel hit a double to center field, which allowed shortstop Blake Wink to clear homebase.
The Spartans were scoreless until the top of the fourth. First baseman Ruben Ibarra hit a homerun out to left field that put SJSU on the board and left Fresno with a 2-1 lead.
After dull fourth and fifth innings, action started to pick up again at the top of the sixth.
SJSU had two runners on base when right fielder Kai Saterstrom hit an RBI single, driving home Ibarra.
Saterstrom’s single tied the game 2-2 giving the Spartans an opportunity to turn the advantage in their favor.
However, the tie didn’t last long as Fresno State picked up another two runs at the bottom of the sixth.
Bulldogs’ second baseman Jeff Jamison scored off a RBI single hit by catcher Zach Morgan. After Wink took his turn at bat with another RBI, Morgan made it home leaving Fresno in the lead with a score of 4-2.
Unfortunately, the Spartans could not catch up and ended up facing defeat.
SJSU pitcher Jonathan Clark pitched for most of the game, staying in for five innings. He only gave up three hits while he was on the mound.
The Spartans faced the Bulldogs for a second time on Saturday, just three hours after their initial loss.
Game 2
The Spartans were mercy-ruled during their second doubleheader game against the Bulldogs.
Game 2 started at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Excite Ballpark in San Jose. The two teams battled earlier in the day where SJSU fell short by two runs.
The second game of the series was another rough one for the Spartans. After coming off Game 1 with zero errors, SJSU had three errors in Game 2 and was not having much luck at-bat either. Fresno State, on the other hand, started strong. The Bulldogs were on the board within the first inning of the game.
Bulldogs third baseman Andrew Kachel and center fielder EJ Andrews Jr. both scored off left fielder Ryan Higgins’ RBI double to right field. First baseman Ivan Luna hit a ground ball to second, which allowed Higgins to make it to home base.
Fresno was up 3-0 through the first and second innings until the team started to grow its lead over SJSU in the third inning.
During the top of the third, the Bulldogs took off and gained themselves an 8-point lead over the Spartans, who were not on the board yet. A couple of errors made by the Spartans helped the Bulldogs gain an 8-0 lead within just the first three innings.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the third when SJSU found some luck with a home run by first baseman Ruben Ibarra.
The homer was Ibarra’s fourth of the season and the second of the doubleheader series. He pulled out a home run during each game of the series against Fresno.
Though Ibarra’s efforts were there, his home run and play saves alone weren’t enough to compete with the Bulldogs.
Fresno State delivered an impressive run against the Spartans and gained an even bigger lead during the fourth and sixth innings. By the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs led 10-1 and eventually grew to a dominating 12-1 lead by the bottom of the sixth.
In a last-chance effort to keep the game going, the Spartans attempted to score at least three more runs but could only achieve one. The score was 12-2 at the top of the seventh inning and that is where it stayed.
New COVID-19 rules state if the home team is down by ten or more runs by the bottom of the seventh, the game would be called, and it was.
Although it was a rough weekend for the Spartans, there are still more games to come. SJSU will be on the road for a while and are expected to face the University of Oregon on Tuesday.
The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at PK Park in Eugene.
