SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State baseball continues their Midwest trip with a weekend stop in Evanston, Illinois for a weekend series against Northwestern Friday through Sunday at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park.
Games Nos. 26-28
San José State (14-11, 8-4) at Northwestern (7-13, 1-2)
Friday, March 29 | 10:30 a.m. PT
Saturday, March 30 | 12:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, March 31 | 10:00 a.m. PT
Rocky and Berenice Miller Park | Evanston, Illinois
scouting the WILDCATS
» Northwestern checks in to the series with a 7-13 overall record. The Wildcats crushed Chicago State 13-1 in their last outing after dropping their Big Ten opening series to Purdue 2-1.
» Brothers David and Jack Dunn are one of the best batting duos in the Big Ten. Both are hitting above .350 and rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in batting average in the Big Ten.
» This will be the first meeting between the programs. It will also be Northwestern's first nonconference series of the season.
Leading the pack
» San Jose State currently sits atop the Mountain West standings with a 8-4 mark in league play. The Spartans are one of just three teams above .500 in conference play.
Last time out
» SJSU began their midwest trip with a doubleheader at Michigan. The Spartans were shutout in both seven-inning efforts 1-0 and 3-0, respectively.
HOME Sweet home
» SJSU is playing its best ball in front of the home crowd inside Municipal Stadium. The Spartans are currently 8-3 in home contests while hitting .297 .
20-20 vision
» The Spartans have scored 20 runs not once, but twice already in 2019. The first time came in the series finale at Santa Clara in a 20-10 victory.
» The second time was in the series finale at New Mexico as the Spartans walked away with a 22-18 victory in a nine-inning game that lasted 4:52.
strahm stays strong
» Kellen Strahm has established himself as one of the most feared hitters in the Mountain West this season. The junior leads the conference in batting average (.446), on-base percentage (.513), and hits (40). He ranks second in stolen bases (12) and third in runs scored (27).
» Strahm is the only player in the MW hitting above .400 (minimum 2.5 AB per game).
» Strahm also ranks near the top in several NCAA categories as well.
Batting Average 14th
Hits 12th
On base % 36th
Stolen Bases 45th
a performance for the ages
» Senior left-handed pitcher Andrew Mitchel put on one of the finest peformances ever seen on the mound in SJSU history on March 8 in the Spartans 4-1 win over Air Force. The Atwater, California, product tossed a complete game with a remarkable 18 strikeouts, the most thrown at any level in the NCAA this season.
» The strikeout total ranks second-most in a nine-inning game in school history and the most since 1964. It is also the second-most in Mountain West history behind Stephen Strasburg's 23 vs. Utah on April 11, 2008.
MW pitchers of the week
» The Spartans have been honored by the league office in back-to-back weeks as Andrew Mitchel and Fineas Del Bonta-Smith were the Mountain West Pitchers of the Week. Mitchel earend the honor first for his 18-strikeout performance while Bonta-Smith picked up the award after a combined effort in the UNLV series in which he secured a win to improve to 2-1 and tallied two saves to bring his season total to five.
fantastic finn
» Fineas Del Bonta-Smith has been outstanding in closing out games this far for the Spartans. After recording five total saves in 2018, Finn has already tallied seven saves in the first 2018-19.
» Bonta-Smith's seven saves are tied for the third-most in school history and are sixth in the NCAA this season.
» Bonta-Smith has 12 saves in his Spartan career, tied for the second-most in school history. Zack Jones currently holds the record of 15.
second year for sanfilippo
» Head coach Brad Sanfilippo had an outstanding first season at the helm of SJSU baseball as interim coach in 2018, leading the Spartans to a 27-30 overall record and a third-place finish in the Mountain West standings with a 16-14 record, their most conference wins since 2008. Sanfilippo was promoted to head coach following the season on June 12, 2018.