APR 19 – The Spartans baseball team (20-17, 8-7 MW) began its biggest series of the season thus far against the Aztecs (12-25, 7-8 MW). Having lost 2 games in a row, the Spartans were looking to get out of a hole that kept getting deeper and deeper as the season rolled along. With their 8-7 record, they sat in a 3-way tie for 2nd place in division; a good performance keeps them in the running for first place, while a bad performance could mean trouble later on in May. These two clubs first met in March for SJSU’s first conference series of the campaign, where the Spartans would end up dropping 2 of 3 in San Diego (one of which being a mercy rule loss).
The first game didn’t go as planned, as the Aztecs took a 5-2 victory on the back of starting pitcher Garvey Rumary, who allowed just 1 run across 6 innings. Kyle Calzadiaz his second loss of the season, allowing 3 runs across the first 4 innings. Nolan George finished out the remainder of the game, holding the Aztecs to just 1 earned run in 5 innings of work, ringing up 4 batters. The Spartans offense plated both runs across via the sacrifice, while Rocco Caballero went 2-3 at the dish. Caballero ended up accounting for half the total hits, as SJSU could only manage to put together 4.
David Thomas got the start in Game 2, and through 6.0 IP, he allowed just 2 runs on 7 hits in what turned out to be a tight, low-scoring affair through the majority of the game. However, the Aztecs still managed to plate 6 runs across the 8th and 9th to seal a 9-3 win on Friday night. Zach Tallerman led the offensive effort, going 2-4 at the dish with an RBI. Jake McCoy also notched an RBI single in his only at-bat as a pinch hitter.
The Spartans couldn’t avoid the sweep, as on Sunday opposing pitcher Omar Serrano pitched a complete game shutout on 134 pitches, striking out 6 and surrendering a single walk. Luca Staiano pitched well in his outing, shutting out the Aztecs through 5 innings. Tyler Albanese came on in relief, allowing 1 earned run and notching the loss, his 3rd of the season. Only Zach Chamizo, Neil Jansen, Jeriah Lewis, and Caballero got into the hit column. Chamizo also made his first start behind the plate. Alex Fernandes, who went 0-3 with a walk, had his 9-game hit streak snapped. However, he has reached base safely in 37 of 39 games.
The Spartans now drop to an even .500 on the season (20-20) and 8-10 in conference play, further falling from 1st place contention. SJSU has lost 5 games in a row, and will continue their MW gauntlet on Friday, when they travel to New Mexico to take on the 2nd-place Lobos.
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