SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State baseball scored six runs in two innings to erase a 5-0 deficit to Fresno State, but a late home run cost the Spartans as they dropped game one against the Bulldogs by a final of 8-6 Thursday at Excite Ballpark.
The loss drops SJSU to 12-7 in conference play as Fresno State improves to 9-6 to put the pressure on for first place in the Mountain West standings.
Fresno State jumped out to a 5-0 advantage after plating two runs in the first and second innings and belted their first of three home runs in the third. The Spartans then responded for the three runs in the home half of the third. Aaron Pleschner, who led the Spartans with three hits on the evening, got things started with a RBI single and James Shimashita followed suit as his slow roller to the Bulldog second baseman took a wicked hop that allowed Pleschner to score.
Connor Konishi then attempted to score on a wild pitch, but the throw back to the plate beat him just in time for the out. Troy Viola then laced a RBI single to plate the final run of the inning and cut the deficit to 5-3.
Fresno State notched a solo home run in the fourth to take a 6-3 lead, but it was short-lived as SJSU rallied for three more runs in the inning. Blake Berry hit a clutch two-out double that just stayed inside the line down right field to score a pair and a fielding error allowed Shimashita to score the tying run from third.
Spartan starting pitcher Andrew Mitchel settled in to work two solid innings in the fifth and sixth innings to keep the Bulldogs at bay, but was pulled at the start of the seventh after throwing 135 pitches. He finished with six earned runs against while scattering eight hits and tallied nine punch outs to extend his Mountain West-leading tally to 85.
Wesley Clawson took the hill in relief and after giving up a lead-off base hit, surrendered a two-run home run to deep left field that gave the Bulldogs the decisive 8-6 lead. Clawson went on the finish out the game with five hits and the two runs allowed. He was charged with the loss to drop to 2-3.
Fresno State starter Ryan Jensen picked up the win to improve to 6-1 on the season. He scattered nine hits over 7.0 innings and was responsible for six runs, five earned while striking out eight. Jamie Arias closed out the ninth inning to pick up his eighth save.
The Bulldogs had a base runner in every inning and finished with 13 hits to the Spartans' nine.
SJSU will look to bounce back in game two of the series tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. at Excite Ballpark.