Feb. 23, 2018
The San José State baseball team (2-3) will play San Francisco (1-2) Saturday, February 24 at 10:30 a.m. in San Francisco. Sunday the Spartans will play a doubleheader in San Francisco with one game against Sacramento State (2-2) at 10:30 a.m. Then at 2:00 p.m., the Spartans will play the Dons to end the road trip.
San José State (2-3) at San Francisco (1-2)
Sat-Sun • Feb 24-25, 2018 • 10:30 a.m. & 2:00 p.m. • San Francisco
San José State (2-3) vs Sacramento State (2-2)
Sun • Feb 25, 2018 • 10:30 a.m. • San Francisco
SOCIAL MEDIA: @SJSUBaseball
Series History: San Francisco
The Spartans are winning the all-time series at 97-67-1.
San José State is 3-1 in their last four meetings against the Dons. In the last game against San Francisco, the Spartans were down 5-2, but came back to win 7-6.
Last four meetings
5/15/17 San Francisco W, 7-6
5/14/17 San Francisco L, 7-2
5/13/17 at San Francisco L, 3-2
5/12/17 at San Francisco L,15-0
Series History: Sacramento State
The Spartans have a one game advantage in the all-time series 32-31.
The Spartans last faced the Hornets almost five years ago in the WAC Tournament. The game was scoreless after five innings, but a few timely hits in the late innings gave the Hornets a 3-0 win.
Last four meetings
5/24/13 Sacramento State# L, 3-0
5/12/13 at Sacramento State L, 3-2
5/11/13 at Sacramento State W, 8-6
5/10/13 at Sacramento State L, 4-1
#-WAC Tournament
Last time out
The San José State University baseball team lost, 4-1, to Santa Clara Tuesday, February 20 in Municipal Stadium.
Though the Spartans only had four singles, they were the recipients of six walks, two Santa Clara fielding errors and a hit batsman. San José State left 10 runners on base to Santa Clara's six. Four times in the first seven innings, the Spartans (2-3) stranded a pair of base runners.
Brandon Ross (0-1) started on the mound for San Jose State and became the first Spartan starter this season to pitch into the sixth inning. After the first two innings, Ross retired 11 consecutive batters. He had six strikeouts to one walk in his 5.1 innings of work.
Pitching Staff
This season, the biggest question facing the Spartans is the unproven pitching staff. The team has five returning pitchers, and seven who are pitching Division I baseball for the first time.
POSSIBLE STARTING PITCHERS FOR GAME
SATURDAY
Game 1 at San Francisco: RHP Jake Swiech (0-0) vs RHP Riley Ornido (0-0)
SUNDAY
Game 2 vs Sacramento State: Fineas Del Bonta-Smith (0-1) vs RHP Scott Randall (0-0)
Game 3 at San Francisco: RHP Nicholas Morales (0-0) vs LHP Landen Bourassa (0-1)
San Francisco Dons
Overview: The San Francisco Dons are led by Nino Giarratano who is in his 20th season at the helm. The Dons were picked to finish sixth in the annual West Coast Conference preseason poll.
Last time out: The Dons last traveled to Texas to face off against University of Texas at San Antonio in a three-game series.
In game one, the Dons won 11-2. San Francisco took a 3-0 lead in the third inning. The Dons would score in five of the last six innings to win their first game of the season on opening day.
In the first game of the doubleheader, newcomer Landen Bourassa was the starting pitcher for the Dons. The Roadrunners jumped out to an early lead off a two-run home run from Bryan Arias. UTSA would not relinquish the lead. The Dons lost the game 11-1.
In the second game of the doubleheader, the Dons got off to a fast start, scoring four runs in first inning. The Roadrunners added four runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Scott Parker, coming on in relief for Haydn King, put together two shutout innings before the UTSA offense scored three runs in three consecutive innings. San Francisco would lose the game 13-5.
Pitching: Riley Ornido will get the start in game one against the Spartans. This season he has made one appearance, pitching 1.0 inning. In four at bats he struck out three batters. In game two on Sunday, Landen Bourassa will get his second start of the season. Bourassa has pitched 3.1 innings and allowed nine runs on 16 at bats.
Sacramento State
Overview: The Sacramento State Hornets are led by eighth year head coach Reggie Christiansen. The Hornets have won the WAC Tournament title in two of the last four seasons.
Last time out: The Hornets split a four-game series against the Washington Huskies in their opening weekend. It is the fifth straight season the Hornets have split or won a season-opening series against a power 5 school.
Pitching: The Hornets earned their first shutout of the season when they beat Washington 6-0. They are the only team in the WAC with a shutout in 2018. Last season, the Sacramento State pitchers were ranked first in the conference and 20th in the nation with six shutouts.
Fresh Faces
This season, the Spartan baseball team features four fresh faces in the coaching staff: Interim head coach Brad Sanfilippo, assistant coach Tyler LaTorre, volunteer assistant coach Clay Cederquist, and volunteer assistant coach Michael Breen.
Brad Sanfilippo is making his second stint with the Spartans after serving two seasons as recruiting coordinator and third base coach during the 2013 & 14 seasons. Sanfilippo has coached more than 20 players into the MLB draft.
Tyler LaTorre comes to the Spartans after two seasons at San Francisco State as the team's pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. He brings nearly a decade of professional baseball experience to the San José State baseball team. LaTorre has helped players such as Tim Lincecum, Hunter Strickland, and 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.
Clay Cederquist joins the Spartan squad after serving as head coach of the Dodge City A's summer collegiate baseball team. Currently he is an associate scout for the Miami Marlins. He is also the first base and hitting coach at American River Community College in Sacramento, California.
Michael Breen is a 2017 graduate of San José State. He started games at second base, third base, shortstop, right field, left field and designated hitter in his Spartan career. Breen was a three-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree.
Shane "Timbo" Timmons
The three-time letter winner from Mission Viejo, California has started in 108 of the last 109 games for the Spartans. No San José State baseball player has more homers the last four seasons than Timmons with 19. He is currently fifth in all-time in home runs. The current record was set nearly 20 years ago by John Fagan with 25 home runs. The 2017 second team All-Mountain West first baseman finished in the top-10 in several MW conference categories: ninth in slugging percentage (.648), tied for seventh in triples (2), fifth in home runs (7), tied for sixth in hit by pitches (6), first in sacrifice flies (5) and tied for eighth in stolen bases (5).
He is the first Spartan to lead the team in batting average two consecutive seasons since Kevin Frandsen in 2003 and 2004 seasons. Frandsen would become a 12th round pick in the 2004 MLB Draft, and play nine seasons of major league baseball. He would later be inducted into the San José State Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.