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Baseball Returns Home for Non-Conference Matchup Against San Francisco

April 16, 2018

San Jose, Calif. --- The San José State baseball team will play a non-conference matchup against the University of San Francisco Tuesday, April 17 at 5:00 p.m. inside Municipal Stadium.

San José State (14-20) vs San Francisco (20-16)

Tuesday • April 17 • 5:00 p.m. • Municipal Stadium

Pitching Staff

This season, the 11 Spartan newcomers that have pitched on the roster have accounted for 159 of the 239 strikeouts this season. They have also recorded seven of the teams wins.

Big innings (four or more runs) have plagued the San José State baseball team this season. The team has given up 18 big innings this season.

TUESDAY

RHP-Jake Swiech (1-1) vs RHP-Grant Goodman (0-0)

Series History: San Francisco

The Spartans are winning the all-time series at 98-68-1.

The last time the two teams met, the Spartans defeated USF 6-1.

Last 6 meetings

2/25/18 at San Francisco W, 6-1

2/24/18 at San Francisco L, 10-0

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

Goldberg & Mitchel

In the last 14 games when Goldberg and Mitchel started, the Spartans have outscored opponents 61-54.

In Andrew Mitchel's last five starts, he has been one of the most effective pitchers in the Mountain West. He holds a 2.64 ERA with a 3-0 record in 30.2 innings. He has allowed just nine earned runs and has 30 strikeouts.

In Mountain West play this season, Mitchel is ranked seventh in ERA at 3.90 - second in opposing batting average with .217 - Third in batters struck out with 31- Fourth in hits allowed with 23 - 10th in innings pitched at 30.0.

In Josh Goldberg's last five starts, he has recorded two complete games. The senior has 14 strikeouts with 12 walks and a 1-3 record. The senior from Long Beach, California threw 103 pitches in a career game high 9.0 innings against Fresno State 4/17/18. He is the first Spartan pitcher to throw a complete game victory since Kalei Contrades on May 21, 2014.

Double play

The Spartans are third in the nation in double plays turning 42 in 34 games this season. They lead the nation in double plays per game with an average of 1.24 per game. Last year, the Spartans turned 54 double plays all season.

Flash

In the last 24 games, Kellen Strahm has been one of the most effective hitters on the team batting 35-for-104 (.337 avg) with an OB% of .425 during that span. He also leads the team in walks with 23, triples with three, and stolen bases with five. Strahm is one of the fastest players in the Mountain West. He was the 2017 MW leader in steals with 18. He had three multi-steal games including a season-high three steals versus New Mexico 3/11/17.

Shane "Timbo" Timmons

The three-time letter winner from Mission Viejo, California has started in 138 of the last 140 games for the Spartans. No San José State baseball player has more homers the last four seasons than Timmons with 23. He is currently tied for second in all-time home runs with Robert Berns (1996-97). 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.

Bautista is Back

After Bautista redshirted the 2017 season and played only 10 games of 2016, the senior returns to the Spartan lineup without missing a step. Bautista, who had not recorded a hit since March 1, 2016, has a team leading batting average of .363 through 29 games with 41 hits and 20 RBI's.

This season, the senior has seven three hit games (four of them being consecutive). In Nevada he hit his first home run in nearly three years...then he hit another the very next day.