Santa Barbara, Calif. - San Jose State got two quick outs in the bottom of the 10th inning against UC Santa Barbara, but a hit batter and two singles gave the Gauchos a walk-off 2-1 win and a series sweep of the Spartans.
D.J. Slaton had the longest outing of the year for any Spartan starter this year, going 8.0 innings. He scattered five hits and gave up only one run in the fourth inning on an RBI-single by UCSB's Peter Maris.
Kalei Contrades, who had missed the last 10 games due to injury, made his first appearance on the mound in relief of Slaton to start the ninth inning. He retired all three batters in the ninth to send the game into extras, and then quickly sat down the first two batters in the tenth. But a Cameron Newell single and Woody Woodward hit-by-pitch set the table for Brandon Trinkwon's walk-off RBI-single through the right side.
"Kalei pitched great today," said Spartans' head coach Dave Nakama. "He gave us a chance to win."
San Jose State had seven hits in the game, three coming off the bat of senior outfielder Nick Schulz. The Spartans scored their lone run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly by Matt Carroll. A Tim Quiery walk followed by singles from Nick Schulz and Sheldon Daquioag set Carroll up for his sacrifice. The Spartans had eight runners left on base in the game.
Greg Mahle got the win for UC Santa Barbara (7-4), which has now beaten San Jose State (2-9) in six straight meetings dating back to last season.
The Spartans' season keeps rolling with a Tuesday, March 5 matchup at Fresno State. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. PST.