May 15, 2017
Lineup. #omahaknows #SJSU #sjsuspartans
A post shared by San Jose State Baseball (@sjsubaseball) on May 14, 2017 at 6:39pm PDT
Box Score
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The San Jose State University (16-34-1) baseball team lost 7-2 to the University of San Francisco (27-26) on Sunday night when the Dons broke open the game with a four run fifth inning.
The Spartans held a 2-1 lead heading into the top half of the fifth when USF's Nico Giarratano hit a bases clearing triple to put the Don up 4-2.
Spartan starter Joseph Balfour had given up only three hits in the first four frames but ran into trouble in the fifth when he allowed a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases prior to Giarratano's at bat.
Giarratano would later score in the inning on a ground out to to make it a 5-2 lead for the Dons.
Aside from the problematic fifth inning, Balfour pitched a solid game allowing just one run on four hits in the other five innings he pitched. For the game, Balfour threw a season-high 6.0 innings, scattering seven hits, five runs, one walk and striking out three.
Balfour (0-4) took the loss for the Spartans while Dons' Benji Post (6-2) was credited with the win.
The Spartan bats were quiet, generating just six hits and two runs for the second consecutive game.
Kyle Morrison (2-for-4, R) was the only Spartan with multiple hits including his first career triple in the fourth inning where he would score on a Michael Breen (0-for-4, RBI) ground out to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.
SJSU will look to reverse its fortunes when they take on USF in the series finale on Monday, May 15 at 7:00 p.m. PT. It is the Spartans' final home game of the 2017 season.