COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – San Jose State baseball's 2019 season came to an end as they suffered an 8-2 defeat in the rubber match at Air Force. The Spartans finish with a 20-34 overall record and 13-17 mark in conference play.
With the loss, the Spartans finish fifth in the final Mountain West standings and fall just short of qualifying for the Mountain West Tournament.
SJSU plated two runs in the fifth to take a 2-1 lead that lasted until the seventh. Ryan Belluomini laced a RBI single and Aaron Pleschner walked with the bases loaded to take the lead. Unfortunately a groundout left the bases loaded. The Spartans ended up stranding 10 runners on for the contest.
Air Force (26-26, 12-14) used a five-run seventh to take control of the game. A double down the line in left plated the first run just as heavy rain and snow began to fall on the turf. Play was suspended for a short while, but when it resumed, the Falcons continued to tack on the runs off of Spartan closer Fineas Del Bonta-Smith, who took over on the bump after play resumed.
The Falcons added two insurance runs in the eighth to finish things off. Andrew Mitchel was tasked with getting the final out of the eighth and after allowing a bases-loaded walk, struck out the final batter of his career for No. 112 on the season and 213 for his career. He finished the season with the ninth-most punch-outs in school history.
Spartan reliever Justin Watland (0-2) was rock-solid in 4.0 innings of work, surrendering just two hits, but was responsible for two runs, including the go-ahead and was charged with the loss. Air Force reliever Matt Hargreaves (3-4) picked up the win.
The Spartans finished the day with nine hits led by senior Aaron Pleschner, who was 3-for-4 with a RBI in his final collegiate game.