March 28, 2016
GAME 23
San José State (7-15, 3-8 MW) vs. Stanford (12-6, 2-1 Pac-12)
Municipal Stadium (San Jose, Calif.)
Monday, March 28 6:00 p.m.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
Monday: RHP Hilario Tovar (2-2, 6.17 ERA) vs. TBA
Live Video: Spartan Digital Network (www.sjsuspartans.com/videos)
Radio: KSJS 90.5 FM
Social Media: @SJSUBaseball (Twitter, Instagram) • facebook.com/SJSUSpartansBaseball
All-Time Series: San José State trails, 93-34.
GAME 24
San José State (7-15, 3-8 MW) at Santa Clara (10-12, 1-2 WCC)
Stephen Schott Stadium (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Wednesday, March 30 6:00 p.m.
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
Wednesday: TBA vs. TBA
Live Video: TheW.tv (www.wccsports.com)
Radio: None
Social Media: @SJSUBaseball (Twitter, Instagram) • facebook.com/SJSUSpartansBaseball
All-Time Series: San José State trails, 130-87.
PAIR OF LOCAL FOES ON DECK IN MIDWEEK ACTION
The Spartans kick off a busy week of baseball with a visit from the Stanford Cardinal on Monday at 6:00 p.m. before traveling across town to play the Santa Clara Broncos on Wednesday. Monday's contest marks the finale of a four-game homestand and the last home game until mid-April, while the trek to Santa Clara is the Spartans' first midweek road tilt.
SCOUTING STANFORD/SANTA CLARA
Overview: Stanford, led by 40th-year head man Mark Marquess, sits at 12-6 overall and is fresh off a series win over Washington State in its first Pac-12 series. The Broncos earned a series split in a four-game set with Hawai'i over the weekend, and now stand at 10-12 overall and 1-2 in West Coast Conference action.
Pitching: Stanford brings a miniscule 2.14 team ERA to Municipal Stadium on Monday. Relievers Tyler Thorne and Chris Viall lead the club with nine appearances apiece and have not yielded runs in 12.1 and 12.0 innings, respectively. Santa Clara has impressed on the bump as well, posting an ERA of 3.32 in 195.1 innings.
Offense: The Cardinal has hit .226 at the plate thus far, only slightly better than the Broncos' .224 clip. Santa Clara's Stevie Berman (.303) represents the only player on either club to have an average north of the .300 plateau. Quinn Brodey leads Stanford with a pair of home runs and 12 RBIs, while Berman's 12 RBIs are tops on his squad.
SERIES HISTORY
The Spartans trail the all-time series with the Cardinal, 93-34, and the all-time series with the Broncos, 130-87. Last season, Stanford powered past the Spartans in a 13-4 ballgame at Municipal Stadium. Santa Clara downed San José State 7-4 in their first meeting this season.
THE WEEKEND THAT WAS
San José State hosted rival Fresno State over the weekend and got off to a slow start before salvaging the final game of the series. In the first two games, the offense paced the Bulldogs to victory in 13-4 and 9-4 wins. Sunday, the Spartans got a quality start from Josh Nashed and took a 2-2 tie into the 10th inning before Aaron Pleschner came off the bench and delivered a pinch-hit bases-loaded single for the walk-off win.
WHAT'S ON DECK
San José State hits the road this weekend for just its third weekend series away from Municipal Stadium, and first nonconference set. Friday and Saturday's showdowns with the Mustangs get underway at 6:00 p.m. and the series wraps up Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
THE SHANE TRAIN
Sophomore first baseman Shane Timmons has gotten off to a tremendous start in 2016. He has hit safely in 18 of the 21 games he has played in this season, including two-hit outings in 10 of those. His 42 total bases, 30 hits and 14 RBIs are among the top-15 in the Mountain West in their respective categories. Timmons is also alone or tied for the top spot on the team in batting average (.370) and runs scored (11). He is currently riding a 16-game reached-base streak, and has just one error in 204 defensive chances at first base after playing primarily as the designated hitter last season.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
San José State will lean on its lone two regular starting seniors for both leadership and production this season. Ozzy Braff and Dillan Smith represent the only seniors projected to start in the infield and outfield, respectively, on an everyday basis. Last season, Braff led the team with a .298 average and posted a clean sheet at second base en route to Second Team All-Mountain West honors. Smith started all but three games in right field a year ago and will be counted on to lead off for the Spartans.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
After fielding one of the youngest teams in the country a year ago, the Spartans will again feature a host of youngsters seeing significant playing time in 2016. Four of the probable starting position players and three of the starting pitchers this week are underclassmen. Hunter Tidwell (Fr. - OF), Aaron Pleschner (Fr. - INF), Cal Koga (Fr. - C) and Kyle Morrison (So. - INF) represent four more underclassmen who will compete for starting duties early in the season. Below is a breakdown of the Spartans' roster by class.
@SJSUBASEBALL
Keep up with all things Spartan Baseball by following along on social media. Be sure to 'follow' the baseball-specific accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for game previews, in-game updates, recaps and other original content.