Spartans drop series to Air Force at home

By Enrique Gutierrez-Sevilla STAFF WRITER

The San Jose State baseball team couldn’t get a series victory against Air Force Academy over the weekend at Excite Ballpark, as the Spartans lost two of three games.

SJSU has struggled as of late, losing three of its last four games which all have been at home.

In game one of the series, utility Charles McAdoo got the offense going early, driving in outfielder Jack Colette on a double to left in the first inning.

In the second inning, sophomore third baseman Nathan Cadena hit a solo home run to left field, giving the Spartans an early 2-0 lead.

Starting pitcher Jonathan Clark gave up three earned runs in six innings pitched against the Falcons in game one.

Clark exited the game with a 2-3 deficit and earned a no decision. His record remains 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA on the year.

The Spartans wouldn’t score again until the ninth inning after right fielder Jeriah Lewis drove in McAdoo to tie the game 3-3.

SJSU kept the game tied until pitcher Darren Jansen came into the game and gave up six runs.

The Spartans’ offense was unable to score in the twelfth inning and was defeated 9-3.

Jansen lost his first game of the season with the defeat.

Left-handed pitcher Micky Thompson started game two and pitched six innings while allowing 9 hits and 2 earned runs with 3 strikeouts.

He was hit with a comebacker twice, once in the fourth inning and again in the fifth, which allowed hitters to crowd the bases.

Thompson was able to escape both jams, minimizing the damage.

He said it was a great feeling getting back into the count during those innings.

“I had to get through some self-prescribed adversity, but knowing my defense had my back all game kept my mind right to keep filling up the zone,” Thompson said.

“Definitely a great feeling only letting up two earned runs with how much traffic was on the bases.”

Thompson would earn a no decision this game and his record is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA through four starts.

“I definitely didn’t have everything going for me,” Thompson said. “It was a rough day around the edges but keeping the fastball heavy and mixing in just enough off speed kept me in a spot to have success.”

The score was 4-1 in favor of Air Force until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Spartans rallied three runs, two of which were scored by wild pitches to tie the game 4-4.

Right-handed pitcher Keaton Chase came out of the bullpen on the oneyear anniversary since his Tommy John surgery.

He pitched three innings while striking out three batters and earning the win.

“This appearance was the first time I’ve felt in rhythm and had all my pitches working for me,” Chase said. “My curveball was my go-to to put their hitters away and it helped that my command has picked up since I continue to get live reps.”

He said it felt good to have success against a good lineup, especially on the oneyear mark of his surgery.

“My repertoire of pitches is coming along nicely up to this point,” Chase said. “I’ve got the feel back for my curveball and also have added a new cutter grip that has allowed me to be comfortable throwing it at any time.”

Chase has a 1-0 record with a 1.04 ERA in five appearances through 8 ⅔ innings this season.

The Spartans walked off the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning when McAdoo reached on a single and third baseman Dalton Bowling doubled down the left field line to score McAdoo from first.

“It felt pretty good, I didn’t get to play Friday because of illness, so I wanted to get out there as soon as possible just to give my team a chance to win and we came away winning it,” Bowling said.

The Spartans celebrated their 5 - 4 walk-off victory and prepared to play their third game within 30 minutes.

In game three, the offense started the scoring in the first inning when Bowling hit a double down the left field line to score two.

Bowling has a .315 batting average in 54 at-bats through 14 games played this season.

Right-handed pitcher Aaron Eden started the game and pitched 4 ⅔ innings and allowed three earned runs.

Eden did not get much run support from the offense after he exited the game in the fifth inning to a 3-2 deficit.

Left-handed pitcher

Ethan Ross came out of the pen in the sixth inning and gave up 5 runs in 2 ⅔ innings across seven hits.

The Falcons took advantage of runners in scoring position, something the Spartans couldn’t capitalize on.

SJSU left 11 runners left on base with 11 hits in a game they lost 9 - 5.

Eden earned the loss as his record moved to 1-3 with a 4.98 ERA in five starts.

SJSU Head coach Brad Sanfilippo said he wasn’t thrilled with the outcome of the series against Air Force.

“I mean, we played a 12 inning game on Friday, an 11 inning game game one of the doubleheader and we didn’t play great in game three,” Sanfilippo said. “We’ve got to be a little more detailed than we were today.”

Sanfilippo said they could have won the series if the team took advantage of scoring with runners in scoring position.

“Obviously, we would have liked to have won the series but our best opportunity was to win that game before the 12th inning on Friday and we didn’t do that,” Sanfilippo said. “If you figure out a way to win when we have those opportunities to win, then you win a series against a good league opponent, but, it didn’t work out that way and hopefully they’re good learning lessons for us to move on.”

The Spartans have a 7-8 overall record and a 4-2 record in Mountain West Conference play.

SJSU is scheduled to face Sacramento State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento.