March 24, 2018
Santa Barbara, Calif. --- The San Jose State University baseball team (9-12) lost 4-3 to UC Santa Barbara (8-11-1) on a clutch hit in the ninth inning Saturday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium. Andrew Martinez (2-for-4, RBI, BB) scored the game winning hit when he singled to left field with two outs on a full count in the bottom of ninth inning.
"We had good performances from our pitching staff, and we played well enough to win," said interim head coach Brad Sanfilippo. "We just gave them opportunities to get back in the game."
The offensive spark on the day came from Freshman Ruben Ibarra. Ibarra had his best day as a Spartan going 3-for-5 at the plate with 2 RBIs.
Most of the game was a pitcher's duel between Andrew Mitchel (2-0) and Chris Lincoln (0-1). Mitchel allowed just one run on four hits in 5.1 innings played versus Lincoln who allowed one run and six hits.
Justin Watland (0-0) came in clutch in the bottom of the sixth when he iced two batters with the bases loaded to hold onto the 1-1 tie.
Three other Spartans had a multi-hit day against the Gauchos. Kellen Strahm went 2-for-5, David Campbell was 2-for-5, and Sam Olsson went 2-for-4.
The winning pitcher was Shea Barry (1-0) who struck out Ibarra in the top of the ninth inning with a runner on second. Barry played 1.2 innings but struck out two batters to give the Gauchos the victory.
The Spartans return tomorrow afternoon in their final game against UC Santa Barbara at 1:00 p.m. inside Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.