SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State baseball will take part in its final regular season series of 2019 Thursday through Saturday as they head to Colorado Springs to take on the United State Air Force Academy at Falcon Field. Winning the series is crucial for the Spartans if they hope to keep their postseason hopes alive. They are currently in fifth place and only the top four in the final conference standings make the Mountain West Championship Tournament.
Game Nos. 52-54
San Jose State (19-32, 12-15) at Air Force (24-25, 10-13)
Thursday, May 16 | 12:00 p.m. PT
Friday, May 17 | 12:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 18 | 11:00 a.m. PT
Falcon Field | Colorado Springs, Colo.
IT'S NOW OR NEVER
» The Spartans postseason hopes are still alive, but it is crunch time as SJSU tries to clinch a spot in the Mountain West Championship Tournament. The Spartans are currently in fifth place, 1.5 games behind Nevada in fourth and two games ahead of Air Force.
inside the matchup
» Air Force is 10-13 in league play and in sixth place in the standings. They will be looking to win the series in hopes of making the MW Tournament themselves.
» The Spartans and Falcons faced off earlier in the season in a three-game set played in San Jose. The Spartans took 2-of-3 by finals of 4-1, 3-2 and 3-5. In game one, Andrew Mitchel pitched a brilliant nine innings compiling 18 strikeouts.
quite the start
» Through the first 15 games, the Spartans had an 11-4 start in conference play, by far the program's best start since joining the conference in 2014.
Through 15 Mountain West games:
2014 5-10
2015 3-12
2016 3-12
2017 7-7-1
2018 4-11
2019 11-4
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 (.393).
» Despite missing 12 games due to injury, Strahm still leads the team in batting average, runs scored (38), stolen bases (14), home runs (6) and is second in hits (54).
a performance for the ages
» Senior left-handed pitcher Andrew Mitchel put on one of the finest performances 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 earned 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 tallied eight saves so far in 2019.
» Bonta-Smith's eight saves are the third-most in school history and are 8th-most in the NCAA this season.
» Bonta-Smith has 13 saves in his Spartan career, second-most in school history. Zack Jones currently holds the record of 15.
mr. punch out
» Andrew Mitchel leads the Mountain West and ranks 16th in the NCAA with 103 strikeouts. His 12.09 strikeouts per nine innings rank 27th nationally.
» Mitchel needs just seven strikeouts to break into the top 10 for single-season strikeouts in school history.
» Mitchel is the first San Jose State pitcher to record back-to-back seasons of 100-plus strikeouts since Matt Durkin in 2003-04. He is one of just four all-time to do so joining Durkin, Anthony Telford (1986-87) and John Oldham (1952-54).
give em the hot stinky cheddar
» SJSU pitchers have been on their A-game throughout the conference slate. They collective have held opponent bats to a .258 average, the second-lowest in the league while compiling seven saves courtesy of Finn Del Bonta-Smtih.
» Andrew Mitchel has tallied 74 of his 103 strikeouts against conference batters, both marks lead the Mountain West.
clark's big day
» Freshman right-hander Jonathan Clark had one of the most impressive outings by a Spartan freshman in recent memory in the series finale vs. New Mexico. Clark pitched a complete game and picked up his second win as SJSU took down the Lobos 5-1.
» Clark surrendered just three hits on the day and put two on base by way of a walk. He retired 21-straight batters between the third and ninth inning before the Lobos tacked on a base hit with one out in the ninth.
» Clark became the first freshman in the conference to record a complete game this season, and is only the second pitcher overall to do so, joining teammate Andrew Mitchel.
» Additionally, Clark became the first Spartan freshman to throw a complete game since Logan Handzlik in 2014.
pleschner's milestone
» Aaron Pleschner has started 198 games in his SJSU career, just two away from 200, which will move him up to ninth-most all time at San Jose State.
Wallace's milestone
» Senior reliever Zach Wallace has made 90 appearances on the mound in his San Jose State career. He is currently tied for the school record for career-appearances and needs just one more to hold the record outright.
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.
record book watch
» The following milestones are currently on the radar for Spartan pitchers.
- Andrew Mitchel is seven strikeouts away from cracking the top-10 school record list for single season strikeouts.
1. 166 John Oldham 1953
2. 161 Anthony Telford 1987
3. 145 John Oldham 1954
4. 142 Anthony Telford 1986
5. 140 Mike Rusk 1971
6. 128 Dan Archibald 1988
7. 114 Javier Pamus 1998
8. 113 Dave Tellers 1989
9. 111 Mark Langston 1980
10. 110 Matt Durkin 2003
-- 103 Andrew Mitchel 2019
- Finn Del Bonta-Smith needs two more saves to achieve a pair of milestones: the single-season and career saves records. With two saves, Finn will tie Zach Jones for both records.
Single Season:
1. 10 Zach Jones 2011
2. 9 Anthony Vega 2009
3. 8 Finn Del Bonta-Smith 2019
Career (Since 1977):
1. 15 Zach Jones 2010-11
2. 13 Finn Del Bonta-Smith 2018-19
3. 12 Anthony Vega 2008-09
laying it down
» When it comes to moving runners over, there are few better that do it better than the Spartans. SJSU ranks third in the conference and 44th nationally with 34 sacrifice bunts this season. Senior Aaron Pleschner has been the biggest contributor to that number and ranks 14th in the nation with 11 sac bunts on the year.
a program rejuvenated
» Enough cannot be said about the job Brad Sanfilippo has done his two seasons at the helm. The Spartans have compiled 28 conference wins under his watch, and still have nine league games to go in 2019. To put that number in persepective, SJSU had just 33 conference wins combined in the first four seasons as a member of the the Mountain West.
2014: 10 wins
2015: 6 wins
2016: 7 wins
2017: 10 wins
2018: 16 wins
2019: 12 wins
» The Spartans' 16 wins last season were the most conference wins since SJSU won 17 in 2008 as a member of the WAC. The school record for conference wins is 25 set in 1979 as a member of the NCBA.