San Luis Obispo, Calif. – San José State matched Cal Poly's seven hits in Thursday's non-conference series opener but was unable to manufacture enough runs to come away with a win.
Senior Nelson Padilla - who entered the day tied on top of the team's RBI list - tallied his seventh RBI of the season to score the lone Spartan (2-3, 1-2 MW) run of the contest in the sixth.
First baseman Ruben Ibarra got the club's lone run-scoring frame started with a double off the left field wall. Sophomore Dalton Bowling was then inserted into the game to run for Ibarra and Bowling came around to score two batters later on a Padilla sacrifice fly to right field.
Sophomore Robert Hamchuk was the only Spartan to tally a multi-hit game on Thursday evening. He achieved the feat for a fifth consecutive contest with a single down the right field line in the top half of the ninth.
Hamchuk now owns an eight-game hitting streak that dates back to the final three contests of the 2020 season.
Sophomore southpaw Corey Sanchez got the start on the mound and went three innings in his first career start. Sanchez struck out one Mustang (13-9, 4-4 Big West) while allowing just one earned run on two hits.
Senior Wesley Clawson and freshman Theo Hardy were both strong out of the bullpen in the game's later innings as the pair combined to toss two scoreless frames.
In addition to Hamchuk's five-game hitting streak to start the 2021 campaign, both Ibarra and senior Jack Colette extended their hitting streaks to five as well. Colette also had a great night defensively, making a diving play out in center to save a run in the bottom half of the first.
run-saving catches are the best kinds of catches @jackcolette22 ?? pic.twitter.com/Y4rVmCT3ng
— San José State Baseball (@SanJoseStateBSB) April 2, 2021
San José State will look to get back to .500 and attempt to even up the series against Cal Poly on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in San Luis Obispo.