THE SCHEDULE
The first game of this week's series between San Jose State and Oregon is set for a 4:05 p.m. first pitch on Tuesday while the finale will get underway at 12:05 p.m. the following afternoon.
Each game of the series will be televised on Pac-12 Plus.
AN SJSU WIN WOULD
> Give the program multiple victories over Pac-12 opponents in one season for the first time since 2014 (at Washington State, at Stanford)
> Mark the program's first win over a ranked opponent since Apr. 26, 2015 (6-4 at #24 Nevada)
> Be better than a loss
SCOUTING OREGON
The Ducks enter this week with a record of 24-9 and are ranked as high as No. 8 nationally. The club took its most recent series against UCLA, earning victories in their first two games against the Bruins before falling 7-6 in Sunday's finale.
San Jose State is 7-4 all-time against Oregon, most recently beating the Ducks by a score of 4-3 on Apr. 29, 2019. The Spartans haven't dropped a game to Oregon since the Jimmy Carter administration.
SINGLES
> San Jose State leads the all-time series with Oregon 7-4 and has won two straight games against the Ducks.
>Sophomore Trevor Ernt was named the Mountain West Pitcher of the Week on Monday after striking out eight in Friday's 5-4 victory over Fresno State.
> Ernt's WHIP of 0.57 ranks No. 1 nationally as the month of April comes to a close.
> The Spartans have been one of the nation's top triple teams in the field this season, currently ranking 26th nationally in triples per game (0.36).
IB-BAR-AH
SJSU first baseman Ruben Ibarra homered in each of his first three games against Fresno State over the weekend, becoming the first Spartan in 12 years to hit a home run in at least three consecutive games. Corey Valine was the last one to accomplish the feat, going big fly in four straight contests (at Sacramento State, at Stanford, at New Mexico State, at New Mexico State) from May 3-9, 2009.
WEAR IT TO WIN IT
San Jose State defeated Fresno State on a walk-off hit-by-pitch Friday, marking the team's second victory in that fashion in as many seasons (9-8 vs. Creighton on Feb. 23, 2019).
CLARK'S ELEVEN
Junior Jonathan Clark tallied 11 strikeouts at Creighton earlier this month, the most for a Spartan against a power conference opponent since Apr. 16, 2015 (Turtle Kuhaulua, 11 vs. Washington State). The total marked the program's most in any game since Apr. 5, 2019 (Andrew Mitchel, 11 vs. New Mexico).
BIG ERNT ENERGY
Making his first start of the season, sophomore Trevor Ernt notched his second eight-strikeout outing of the year in Friday's win over Fresno State. Ernt now has two eight-K performances in just three appearances on the 2021 campaign (threw just one scoreless inning in other appearance) and ranks No. 4 nationally in ERA at 1.29.
MORE ERNT
In last month's historic victory over California, Trevor Ernt became the first Spartan to go six-plus innings out of the bullpen since May 4, 2016 (Zach Wallace vs. Grand Canyon). Ernt was tremendous in relief, earning the first win of his career after allowing just one run and striking out eight in six innings of work.
WALK THIS WAY
Senior Reece Hernandez has proven to be one of the nation's most patient hitters as the month of April draws to a close. Hernandez ranks No. 26 nationally and is first in the Mountain West in base on balls per game, averaging 0.91 walks per contest.
SCORING ON SAN DIEGO STATE
San Jose State scored 20 runs in its season-opening series against first-place San Diego State, marking the most runs allowed by the Aztecs in a league series since May 10-12, 2019.
NOT BAD FOR STARTERS
The Spartans scored 12 runs in their Opening Day victory over San Diego State. The explosion marked the program's first double-digit run total in an Opening Day game since Feb. 20, 2009 (15-5 vs. Saint Joseph's).
GOING STREAKING
Junior Ruben Ibarra heads to Eugene as the club's hottest hitter. Ibarra currently owns a four-game hitting streak to top the team.
Ibarra, Jack Colette, and Robert Hamchuk have each notched six-game hit streaks on the 2021 campaign. Those mark the team's longest of the season.
NEW FACES ON THE BENCH
While head coach Brad Sanfilippo and assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Thomas Walker are both back from the 2020 campaign, SJSU did add a pair of new faces to the coaching staff.
Seth Moir is now the program's pitching coordinator after spending the last four years in the Minnesota Twins scouting department. Prior to joining the Twins organization, Moir served as the Director of Baseball Operations at UCLA and won a national championship with the Bruins in 2013.
Director of Player Development Andre Mercurio has also joined the crew. Mercurio played for the Florence Y'alls of the Frontier League in each of the last four seasons, joining the Y'alls after graduating from San Jose State in 2015. Mercurio shined both in the outfield and in the classroom in his playing days with the Spartans, receiving 2012 Academic All-WAC honors before being named to the 2013 All-WAC team.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The baseball program can be found on both Twitter (@SanJoseStateBSB) and Instagram (@sjsubaseball).