EVANSTON, Ill. – San Jose State baseball carried a 5-2 lead through six innings but was unable to hold off Northwestern as the Wildcats plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth and drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth to walk off with the win and clinch the series 2-0.
Knotted at 5-5 in the home half of the ninth, Northwestern's first two batters of the inning reached on back-to-back singles, chasing Spartan reliever Wesley Clawson from the game. Fineas Del Bonta-Smith took the mound in an effort to prevent further damage, but another base hit loaded the bases with no outs. Bonta-Smith struck out the next man up, but issued the game-sealing walk one batter later.
With the loss, SJSU drops to 14-13 overall while Northwestern improves to 9-13.
The Spartans struck first in the first inning as Jack Colette singled to center field with the bases loaded and plated Connor Konishi from third. Northwestern answered however in the bottom of the inning as they scored on a fielder's choice. The Wildcats then took their first lead in the second on a RBI single through the right side of the infield.
Junior outfielder Kellen Strahm then gave SJSU the lead again in the fifth as he belted a three-run shot to left field for his team-leading third round-tripper of the season. Aaron Pleschner tacked on another run in the sixth inning with a RBI single to left for the 5-2 advantage.
The lead was short-lived however as Northwestern struck for three runs in the home half of the sixth. The first came in the form of wild pitch that allowed Willie Bourbon to scoot home from third. Two more runs were then scratched across on a 2-RBI single by Jack Dunn.
Freshman Jonathan Clark made the start for the Spartans, scattering eight hits over 5.1 innings and four earned runs allowed. Clawson worked the next 2.2 innings giving up four hits with two strikeouts and was responsible for the final two runs. Del Bonta-Smith was charged with the loss to drop to 2-2.
Northwestern reliever Nick Paciorek picked up the win as the pitcher of record in the ninth. Starter Hank Christie worked 5.2 innings with five earned runs charged against him on seven hits while striking out six.
Pleschner led the Spartan bats with a three-hit performance. The senior was 3-for-4 with a run scored, a RBI, a double and drew a walk. Konishi finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
The series finale between the Spartans and Wildcats begins Sunday at 10:00 a.m. PT.
