SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State baseball's win streak improved to four as the Spartans used a 2-run seventh inning to win their series opener over Utah Valley, 3-1.
"We've just been playing better baseball lately," head coach Brad Sanfilippo said. "We've got good pitching and good defense. Spencer Long did a great job getting us to the seventh tonight. Utah Valley was able to come back and put up a run, but we grinded and figured out a way to get it right back. We didn't have many hits, but we made the most of the ones that we had when we needed him. We had big hits and big at bats, as well as good pitching and defense."
Tied at 1-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Spartans (4-5) quickly loaded the bases on three singles by Johnny Mendoza, Jack Colette and James Shimashita. Ruben Ibarra stepped in and drew a four-pitch walk for the go-ahead RBI. Reece Hernandez padded the lead with a sacrifice fly to center. SJSU tried to plate one more on a double steal attempt, but Shimashita was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
"Johnny (Mendoza) leading off the seventh, after they had scored, and getting us a base runner on was big," Sanfilippo said. "Jack (Colette) and James (Shimashita) then had big at-bats to build that rally."
The two-run lead was all that the Spartan bullpen needed as relievers Nicholas Morales and Jonathan Clark closed the door on the Wolverines in the final two innings with just one hit between them. Spartan starter Spencer Long was excellent in his 6.2 innings of work as he struck out six and scattered five hits.
Long, making his third appearance in a Spartan Uniform, had a streak of 11-straight retired batters between the end of third and beginning of the seventh innings. He was lifted with two runners on and two outs in the seventh in favor of Morales.
With the bases loaded in the seventh, Utah Valley (1-8) laced a RBI single that snuck through the right side of the infield for the tying score, however Shimashita made a terrific throw from right field to gun down the potential go-ahead run at the plate. The play was one of two huge defensive gems for the sophomore, the other coming in eighth inning as he made a late charge and secured a diving grab to make the second out.
The Spartan defense as a whole was stout, playing an error-free contest for the second-consecutive game.
"We are capable of playing good defense and we talk about that a lot," Sanfilippo said. "Defense is the one constant, and we have to play good defense in order to be the team that we need to be. I think the players understand that. Hitting is sometimes hard to count on, and you can't always count on your pitchers to do all the work themselves, so if we can consistently defend the way we are capable of, I think we can have a pretty good defense."
Nicholas Morales moved to 2-0 on the season as the pitcher of record when the Spartans took the lead. Clark, who worked a perfect 1-2-3 ninth picked up his first career save, as well as the first save for any Spartan pitcher this season.
SJSU was led at the plate by Mendoza, who was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Drew Williams had the first of five SJSU hits for the night in the fourth inning as he belted a RBI double to plate the game's first run.
Utah Valley finished with seven hits with third baseman Mick Madsen leading the way at 2-for-4 and a run scored.
The Spartans and Wolverines meet again tomorrow for a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. PT.