Spartans Come From Behind, Beat Bulldogs With Walk-OffSpartans Come From Behind, Beat Bulldogs With Walk-Off

Spartans Come From Behind, Beat Bulldogs With Walk-Off

San José, Calif. – San José State trailed its lid-lifter against Fresno State on three separate occasions but ultimately walked off the field a winner on Friday night. 

The Spartans (4-7, 2-2 MW) didn't hold a lead in the series opener until the final at-bat of the game. Senior Andrew Jurado stepped into the box with the bases loaded and was hit by the first pitch he saw, bringing in Connor Konishi from third to set off a raucous celebration inside Excite Ballpark. 

"I was really pleased that we didn't go away and continued to come back," said head coach Brad Sanfilippo after the win. "I thought our effort was good and we showed how to build an inning right there in the ninth. I'm really proud of that win."

Making his first start of the season, sophomore Trevor Ernt went seven strong innings for SJSU. The southpaw struck out eight while allowing just one earned run on four scattered hits. 

Ernt is now ranked second in the Mountain West in strikeouts per nine innings, having fanned 16 batters in just 14 innings of work to start the season. 

First baseman Ruben Ibarra led the team at the plate with a pair of RBI and one home run. Senior Jack Colette also went yard in the win, going 2-for-4 on the evening. 

Colette's opposite field blast tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second inning, completing the club's first comeback of the night. The Bulldogs (10-19, 7-12 MW) grabbed the lead back with a pair of runs in the fifth but once again, San José State hit the comeback trail. 
 
Ibarra cut the deficit in half in the bottom half of the frame with a sacrifice fly to center (scoring Jackson Forbes) and the home team would pull even at 3-3 on a fielder's choice off the bat of Nelson Padilla in the seventh. 

Down yet again in the ninth, Ibarra tied the contest with a rocket off his bat that cleared the fence with ease and snuck just inside the left field foul pole. 
 



The Spartans then went to work manufacturing their game-winning run, beginning on a Konishi single and an error by the Fresno State center fielder that allowed him to reach second safely. Konishi would advance to third on a fielder's choice from Ruben Mercado and Colette worked a full count walk to load the bases in the next at-bat. 

That set the scene for Jurado's walk-off hit-by-pitch, scoring Konishi to give the Spartans the dramatic victory. Sanfilippo's club is now back to .500 in conference play with the win, moving the team into third-place in the Mountain West standings. 
 



San José State has now won games on walk-off hit-by-pitches in back-to-back seasons, this coming on the heels of Alec Ackerman's hit-by-pitch to walk-off Creighton back on Feb. 23, 2020. 

Fresno native Darren Jansen earned the victory on Friday, coming out of the bullpen to throw two solid innings while striking out three. 

SJSU can clinch a series win on Saturday when it returns to Excite Ballpark for a doubleheader against the Bulldogs. The first of the two contests is set for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.