SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State baseball hosts Nevada Friday through Sunday for the final home games of 2019. The Spartans are looking to take care of business in order to lock down a spot in the Mountain West Tournament. SJSU will honor this year's seniors prior to Sunday's game.
Game Nos. 49-51
Nevada (25-24, 11-16) at San Jose State (19-29, 12-12)
Friday, May 10 | 6:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 11 | 2:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, May 12 | 12:00 p.m. PT
Excite Ballpark | San Jose, Calif.
what's at stake
» San Jose State is currently tied for third in the Mountain West standings with UNLV at 12-12. The Spartans are 1.5 games ahead of fifth place and 2.5 games out of second. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the Mountain West Tournament in Reno.
inside the matchup
» Nevada currently sits in sixth in the conference standings at 11-16 but are just 2.5 games behind the Spartans. Holding off the Wolfpack is essential if SJSU hopes to clinch a spot in the conference tournament.
» The Wolfpack, led by fourth-year head coach T.J. Bruce, are one of the most well-balanced teams in the conference. They hold the third-lowest team ERA of 4.91 and leads the MW in home runs with a startling 46 on the season.
senior day
» The Spartans will honor 10 players as part of senior day festivities prior to the series finale on Sunday. The following players will make their last appearances at Excite Ballpark this weekend - Michael Bowes, Tevin Cadola, Alex Davis, Finn Del Bonta-Smith, Andrew Mitchel, Travis Sanders, Kellen Strahm, Zach Wallace and Justin Watland.
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 (.400).
» Despite missing 12 games due to injury, Strahm still leads the team in batting average, runs scored (36) and stolen bases (14), and is second in hits (52).
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 already tallied eight saves so far in 2019.
» Bonta-Smith's eight saves are the third-most in school history.
» 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 17th in the NCAA with 96 strikeouts. His 12.40 strikeouts per nine innings rank 22nd nationally.
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 .259 average, the second-lowest in the league while compiling seven saves courtesy of Finn Del Bonta-Smith.
» Andrew Mitchel has tallied 27 of his 96 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 195 games in his SJSU career, just five away from 200, which will move him up to ninth-most all time at San Jose State.
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 24 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
-- 96 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 46th nationally with 32 sacrifice bunts this season. Senior Aaron Pleschner has been the biggest contributor to that number and ranks 10th 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.