Feb. 28, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The San Jose State baseball team couldn't get anything going offensively and made a costly error that led to a pair of San Diego State runs in a 5-1 loss in the series finale Saturday afternoon at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The loss completed a sweep of the Spartans (4-7, 0-3 MW) at the hands of the Aztecs (11-1, 3-0 MW) after San Jose State dropped both games of a doubleheader yesterday.
"We have to play better. We're not playing well right now in all facets of the game. We're not throwing enough strikes, we're not hitting the baseball, and we're not playing good enough defense," said head coach Dave Nakama. "I think if anything, you have to pitch and play defense. We're not doing that."
The Spartans' offense was stymied all afternoon by San Diego State starter Mark Seyer, who went 7.0 innings and allowed one run on just two hits while striking out seven. San Jose State finished with five hits as a team with two of them coming in the bottom of the ninth.
Ross Slaney (1-1) got the start for the Spartans and took his first loss of the season. Slaney battled through two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the third inning, when Aztecs' leadoff hitter Steven Pallares led off the inning with a base hit through the right side. The next hitter, Danny Sheehan, showed bunt but pulled back and slashed a base hit to left field, and a double error on the play moved Pallares to third and Sheehan to second. An RBI groundout and a sac fly by Ty France and Seby Zavala, respectively, would give the Aztecs a 2-0 lead and prove to be the difference in the game.
After San Diego State extended its lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Spartans got on the board with an RBI groundout from Turtle Kuhaulua in the top of the next frame.
The Spartans would draw no closer, however, as the Aztecs put the game away with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to close out a 5-1 victory and the series sweep.
San Jose State returns to Municipal Stadium to host the Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday, March 3 at 6:00 p.m.