March 25, 2017
A post shared by San Jose State Baseball (@sjsubaseball) on Mar 24, 2017 at 9:05pm PDT
Box Score
HONOLULU - The Spartans rallied for a run in the seventh and eighth innings to cut the Hawaii lead to one but could not get the tying run across in the ninth when Spartan speedster Corey Olivet was thrown out at home to end the game.
With Hawaii holding a 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth inning, Olivet singled with two outs. David Campbell followed with a drive to the left center gap that the Rainbow Warrior centerfielder Dylan Vchulek fielded and hit the cutoff man, first baseman Eric Ramirez with. Ramirez then threw a strike to catcher Kekai Rios who successfully blocked the plate to prevent Olivet from touching home plate to preserve the 8-7 win for the 'Bows.
The Spartans are now 9-12 overall on the year while the Rainbow Warriors improved to 13-8. SJSU has yet to win on the road this season, going 0-9.
SJSU was hurt by two big innings by Hawaii totaling seven runs, all coming against Spartans starter Cameron Keup. In the first, Hawaii scored three runs on four hits. And in the fourth, the 'Bows added four more runs on five hits. Keup took the loss and is now 1-3 on the season.
San Jose State held a 5-3 lead in the fourth and had an opportunity to extend the lead when Aaron Pleschner hit a sacrifice fly to score Kellen Strahm. The 'Bows appealed the play that Strahm had left the bag early that the umpire agreed, taking the run off the board for the Spartans.
Junior Kyle Blakeman started at left field for the Spartans and drove in a career-high three RBIs to go along with his two hits. Kyle Morrison, Pleschner and Campbell each had two hits a piece also.
The Spartans will look to get its first road win when they take on Hawaii at 6:35 p.m. HT in the third of four game series against the 'Bows on Saturday, March 25.