April 10, 2015
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- San Jose State's baseball team was done in by San Diego State's 10 two-out runs in Friday night's 11-2 loss at Municipal Stadium.
The Aztecs (25-10, 13-3 MW), who entered the night tied atop the Mountain West standings, were 10-for-18 as a team with two outs on the night and collected 17 hits in total. The Spartans (8-15, 2-14 MW) could muster only six hits of their own.
"You have to tip your hat to them. That's why they're a good ballclub and that's why they're at the top of our league, because they can do that to you," said Spartans' head coach Dave Nakama. "It's a sign of a good team when you can get two-out RBIs, and they got 10 of them today. That's a good club."
Josh Nashed (3-3) made his first career start on the mound and was tagged with the loss. The freshman worked the first 6.2 innings and allowed 10 runs (nine earned) on 14 hits while walking two and striking out two. Carter Johnson tossed the last 2.1 frames and allowed a run on three hits.
Bubba Derby (4-2) lowered his ERA to 2.97 with his second two-run outing against San Jose State this season. Derby lasted 7.0 innings and struck out 10 while scattering five hits and walking two.
Ozzy Braff (2-4, double, RBI) was the only Spartan with multiple hits for the second consecutive game, while Andre Mercurio (1-5), Brett Bautista (1-4), Chris Williams (1-3, run) and Tyler Olivet (1-4, run, RBI) rounded out San Jose State's offensive attack.
San Diego State wasted no time getting on the board, plating four runs in the top of the first inning. The rally was capped by Ryan Muno's two-run home run down the left field line to give the Aztecs a 4-0 advantage before the Spartans had a chance to answer.
SDSU would go on to add two in the second, two more in the fourth, and lone runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth. Seby Zavala led the way with a 4-for-5 evening that included two runs scored, four RBIs and a home run.
The Spartans scored their runs in the third and fourth innings, but left opportunities to shrink the deficit even more. San Jose State had loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth and loaded them again with one out in the eighth, but could muster only the fourth-inning run on Olivet's RBI fielder's choice.
"We get the bases loaded twice and then we score one run. We didn't even get a hit -- we score on a fielder's choice. You're not going to win any games or even get back in the game when you do that," Nakama said. "You need someone to drive a ball, hit a double or get a base hit in that situation. We just don't seem to do that, but we've seemed to not get a hit with the bases loaded all year."
San Jose State will send Hilario Tovar (1-1, 9.39) to the mound Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in the second game of the series. Mark Seyler (6-1, 3.14 will take the ball for the Aztecs.