April 20, 2018
San Jose, Calif. --- The San Jose State University baseball team (14-22) was defeated 8-7 by UC Riverside (15-17) in game one of the three game series Friday night at the Riverside Sports Complex.
"The team showed fight," said interim head coach Brad Sanfilippo. "We got a four run inning, but we have to hold onto that lead."
In the Spartan's fifth, the team put up four runs in the frame to claim a 5-2 lead.
With the bases loaded, Kyle Morrison (2-for-4, 2R, RBI) was walked and scored one run to tie the game up 2-2. Then David Campbell (2-for-4, 3RBI) took the first pitch and doubled to left field to clear the bases to take a 5-2 lead.
Morrison is 16-for-36 in his last nine games. In the nine-game span the senior has 10 RBI and four doubles.
"Morrison has been clutch for us," said Sanfilippo. "We moved him to the number five spot and he has been seeing pitches well, and using the whole field."
The Highlanders would answer back with a big inning of their own. They put up five runs with five hits in the bottom of the fifth to regain a 7-5 lead. Then an insurance run from Matt Hardy (1-for-3, 2RBI) with two outs in the sixth gave UC Riverside an 8-5 advantage.
The Spartans would make things interesting in the ninth inning. Chris Williams (1-for-5, R) got things started with a single to right center with one out. Then Morrison doubled to left field to get into scoring position with Williams at third. Johnny Mendoza (1-for-5, 2RBI) singled to center field with two outs to send Williams and Morrison to home plate and bring the Spartan deficit to just one run. The next batter, Connor Konishi (0-for-5), grounded out to the short stop and cut the San Jose State rally short 8-7.
The winning pitcher was Trenton Toplikar (4-2). He allowed 10 hits to the Spartans and struck out four batters. Hazahel Quijada notched his second save of the season allowing one hit off of 11 pitches.
Josh Goldberg (2-5) took the loss for the Spartans. He allowed two earned runs striking out four batters and walking one.
The Spartans return tomorrow night for game two against UC Riverside at 6:00 p.m. You can follow the live stats here and the live video here.