EVANSTON, Ill. – San Jose State baseball senior left-handed pitcher Andrew Mitchel struck out 10 batters opposed to just one walk, but it wasn't enough as the Spartans fell to Northwestern 1-0 Friday in the series opener at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park.
Mitchel scattered just five hits over 6.0 innings of work, however he was responsible for the game's lone run in the third inning. After the Wildcats' Anthony Calarco led off the inning with a double and took third base on a wild pitch, he scored the winning run on a RBI groundout. Mitchel was charged with the loss to drop to 1-4 on the season.
The Spartan bats were held hitless through the first 4.2 innings until Troy Viola laced a two-out single to left in the fifth. Kellen Strahm tacked on SJSU's only other hit with one out in the ninth. Strahm proceeded to swipe second for his 13th stolen base of the season to put the tying run in scoring position, however pinch hitter Richard Kabasinskas flied out to center field to end the game. SJSU left five runners on base throughout the game.
With the loss, the Spartans drop to 14-12 overall while Northwestern improves to 8-13. Wildcat starting pitcher Quinn Lavelle worked a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts to improve to 3-3 on the season.
Game two of the series begins tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. PT.