THE SCHEDULE
This weekend's series between Nevada and San Jose State will get underway at 6:00 p.m. on Friday night. Saturday will feature a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. before the season comes to a close on Sunday afternoon (also a 1:00 p.m. first pitch).
Each game will be televised on the Mountain West Network with John Ramey and TJ Sarbacker on the call.
AN SJSU SERIES WIN WOULD
> Mark the program's first series win in Reno since the 2006 season (swept three-game set)
> Be better than a loss
SINGLES
> San Jose State earned back-to-back Pitcher of the Week nods from the Mountain West with both Trevor Ernt (Apr. 26) and Jonathan Clark (May 3) garnering the awards.
>The awards in back-to-back weeks marked a first for the program since Andrew Mitchel and Fineas Del Bonta-Smith were honored on Mar. 11 and Mar. 18, 2019.
> Junior Ruben Ibarra was named San Jose State's Student-Athlete of the Month for the month of April after hitting five home runs and tallying nine RBI in just 11 games.
> San Jose State played one of the Mountain West's toughest non-conference schedules this season, playing 13 of its 15 non-league games away from home. That slate included trips to Creighton, California, No. 8 Oregon and No. 10 Stanford.
NAVIGATING NEVADA
Nevada enters the week with a record of 21-18 and is 18-9 in Mountain West play. The Wolf Pack currently sit in first place and are looking to clinch the conference's automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament this weekend. However, San Jose State can spoil Nevada's postseason aspirations with a series win in Reno.
San Jose State is 93-90 all-time against the Wolf Pack with its last win coming on May 25, 2018 (13-6 in San Diego at the Mountain West Tournament).
BACK HOME IN RENO
San Jose State boasts one Reno native on its roster in the form of senior Nelson Padilla. The McQueen High School product transferred into the program from Washington State prior to the 2021 campaign and has appeared in 18 games this season, making 13 starts.
NATIONAL NOISE
Ruben Ibarra finds himself at the top of multiple national statistical categories with two weeks remaining in the season. The junior ranks No. 1 in all of Division I with a slugging percentage of .808 and is No. 11 in home runs per game at a clip of 0.39.
IB-BAR-AH
Ibarra homered in each of his first three games against Fresno State last month, 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.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
Ibarra took advantage of San Jose State's trip to Colorado earlier this month, hitting two home runs in the first of four games against Air Force. The multi-home run game was the program's first for an individual since April 22, 2018 (Brett Bautista at UC Riverside).
HE GETS ON BASE
No one in the Mountain West has gotten on-base at a better rate than Ibarra. The junior leads the league with an on-base percentage of .496.
SAN JOSE STATE SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUN LEADERS
With 12 home runs on the 2021 season, Ibarra is tied for sixth on the program's single-season home run leaderboard. This marks the most homers in a season for a Spartan since the 2002 campaign (Adam Shorsher - 13).
2021 MOUNTAIN WEST HOME RUN LEADERS
Ibarra enters the final week of the season tied for the Mountain West lead in home runs despite having received 41 fewer at-bats than the league's other co-leader (Jack-Thomas Wold, UNLV).
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
SJSU returns to the road to put a lid on the 2021 season, a situation the club is no stranger to. The Spartans played 14 straight games away from home earlier this season, a stretch that marked the longest road trip in program history.
BIG BATS
The Spartans totaled eight runs on nine hits in last week's meeting with San Francisco, marking the ninth time this season the club has scored seven or more runs in a game.
RARE AIR
San Jose State's three-home run performance in its first game at Air Force was just the program's second three-home run game in the last decade. Prior to the outburst against the Falcons, the program's last such outing came on March 3, 2019 in a 22-18 win at New Mexico.
CLARK'S ELEVEN
Junior Jonathan Clark tallied 11 strikeouts at Creighton back in April, 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 last month against Fresno State.
MORE ERNT
In March's historic victory over California, 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.
IN DOUBLE FIGURES
San José State totaled double-digit runs in back-to-back games earlier this month at UC Davis and at California, marking the first time the program has accomplished the feat since April of 2018 (won 15-7 and 10-7 at Fresno State).
EXTRA, EXTRA
San Jose State's 14-11 victory over UC Davis in 11 innings marked the program's first extra-inning victory since May 13, 2018 (6-4 at San Diego State in 10 innings).
SCORING ON SAN DIEGO STATE
San Jose State scored 20 runs in its season-opening series against San Diego State, marking the most runs allowed by the Aztecs in a league series since May 10-12, 2019.