April 21, 2015
DAVIS, Calif. -- San Jose State's baseball team rallied back in the ninth to tie its midweek contest at UC Davis, 5-5, but the Aggies walked off in the bottom half and handed the Spartans a 6-5 loss at Dobbins Stadium.
Trailing 5-3 and facing UCD closer Zach Stone (3-1), who entered Tuesday with seven saves and a 0.35 ERA, the Spartans plated a pair of runs to tie it up. Justin Beck pinch hit for Shane Timmons to lead off the inning and drew a walk, and Chris Williams singled to put runners on first and second with no outs. After Michael Breen moved them over with a sac bunt, a passed ball scored Beck and Joe Stefanki's RBI groundout brought home Wiliams.
In the bottom half, a one-out walk to Nick Lynch and an infield single by Izaak Silva set the table for Austin March, who shot a grounder through the right side of the infield off Myles Richard (0-2). Right fielder Tyler Olivet's throw was cut off and Lynch came across with the winning run.
"You can't cut the ball off," said head coach Dave Nakama. "We have to let the ball go through because that's the only chance of getting the guy out at the plate. For some reason we cut it off."
San Jose State (10-31) had eight hits through the first five innings but only managed one more in the final four. UC Davis (22-16-1) picked up only one hit after the fifth inning until its two-hit rally in the ninth. The Aggies finished with 12 on the afternoon.
The Spartans and Aggies traded scoring frames for five consecutive half-innings in the third through fifth and scoreless innings in the sixth through eighth.
Stefanki (2-4, two RBIs) led the Spartans at the dish with two hits, while Dillan Smith (1-4), Corey Olivet (1-4, RBI), Brett Bautista (1-4, run), Williams (1-4), David Campbell (1-2, double, RBI), Tyler Olivet (1-4, run) and Kyle Morrison (1-2, sac bunt) added a hit apiece.
Each team's starting pitcher -- Carter Johnson and Matt Blais -- made their first start of the season Tuesday. Johnson went the first 3.0 frames for the Spartans and allowed a pair of runs on two hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts. Blais worked 4.1 innings and yielded three runs (one earned) on seven hits.
San Jose State visits Nevada this weekend for a three-game Mountain West set. Saturday's game has been moved back to 2:00 p.m. from its original 1:00 p.m. first pitch.