May 16, 2015
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- San Jose State's baseball team looked to have the Senior Day magic going when they tied the ballgame at six apiece in the ninth inning Saturday afternoon, but it was UNLV that came out with a 9-6 win in 10 innings.
San Jose State (13-43, 6-24 MW) held a 3-1 lead until the seventh inning, when the Rebels (24-29, 10-20 MW) struck for three runs to take a 4-3 lead. UNLV didn't trail the remainder of the game despite Spartan rallies in the seventh and ninth innings to erase one- and two-run deficits, respectively.
Brett Bautista did the majority of the damage at the plate for the Spartans. The sophomore collected three legs of the cycle by recording a single, double and home run in three of his first four trips to the plate. The long ball was the first of Bautista's career and tied the game at 4-4.
Prior to the game, San Jose State recognized its three seniors -- Kalei Contrades, Andre Mercurio and Myles Richard -- in a Senior Day ceremony and continued honoring them and their families at the team's annual luau following the game.
"For Andre and Kalei, they were here for my three years and they exemplify what we would like out of our players," said Spartans' head coach Dave Nakama. "They work hard, they're good teammates, selfless, they care about their teammates and lead by example. With Myles, he just kind of showed up and did a great job for us. He pitched some quality inning for us and did a great job.
"I really feel bad for those three guys because they went through some hard times, but their character was great throughout. That says a lot about them as young men and they're going to do well in whatever they do in the future."
San Jose State and UNLV will face each other in the first game of the 2015 Mountain West Championship, hosted by the University of Nevada at Peccole Park in Reno. The Spartans and Rebels will get underway Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., and the winning team will play later that afternoon.