SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State Baseball junior first baseman Dalton Bowling tallied his first three-hit game of his young Spartan career on Friday evening in the series opener against Creighton, but it wasn't enough as the Spartans fell by a final of 7-0.
Bowling (3-for-4) found his sweet spot early and took advantage of early count fastballs, which he drove through the left side of the infield in the third, fifth and eighth innings. Unfortunately, his trio of hits were the Spartans' lone three of the evening to that point until the ninth inning saw back-to-back-to-back singles to open the frame by Ruben Ibarra, Johnny Mendoza and Troy Viola.
Creighton (3-1) finished with just one more hit (7) but scratched across a run in the first four innings before a three-RBI triple in the fifth blew the game open. The Bluejays took advantage of four Spartan errors in the victory.
SJSU's best chance at a comeback came after the three-straight hits to open the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately a pop up and double play resulted in no runs as the Spartans (0-5) were unable to avoid the shutout.
Spartan starting pitcher Spencer Long (0-1) worked 4.2 innings before giving way for relievers Corey Sanchez (2.1 IP) and Dominic Eberle (2.0 IP). The junior struck out four while scattering five hits.
Creighton's starter Dylan Tebrake picked up the win to improve to 2-0 on the season. David Vilches and Andre Meggs led the Bluejay offense with a pair of hits each.
Game two of the three-game series begins Saturday at 2:00 p.m. PT.