Reno, Nev. - San José State's Ruben Ibarra homered in each game of Saturday's doubleheader but the effort wasn't enough as Mountain West champion Nevada earned a pair of victories at Peccole Park.
Ibarra now has a total of 14 home runs on the year, the most for a Spartan in a single season since Robert Berns hit 14 himself on the 1997 campaign.
The Wolf Pack pulled away late en route to a 7-2 win in game one before escaping with a 14-10 win in game two.
The Spartans will return to action for their season finale on Sunday afternoon against Nevada. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. at Peccole Park.
Singles - Game 1 (L, 7-2)
- SJSU drew first blood as Ibarra went big fly in the top of the first inning to give his team a 2-0 advantage.
beam me up, @salty_rube ??
— San José State Baseball (@SanJoseStateBSB) May 29, 2021
the @MountainWest has a new solo home run leader as Ruben Ibarra notches number 1?3? on the season! #SpartanUp pic.twitter.com/64WncHcuDQ
- Right-hander Jonathan Clark went five innings on the mound, striking out eight on the day.
- Clark has now tallied seven-plus strikeouts in four of his eight appearances on the season.
- Junior James Shimashita was the only other Spartan to toe the rubber (one inning of work), retiring the side in order against three of the conference's top hitters.
Singles - Game 2 (L, 14-10)
- Connor Konishi (three), Jack Colette (three) and Ruben Mercado (two) all notched multi-RBI performances in game two.
- Colette hit his fourth home run of the season (ranks second on the team) in the sixth inning, a three-run shot to right field that cut his team's deficit to 8-6.
- The Spartans would score five runs in that sixth frame, eventually tying the game at 8-8 on an RBI single off the bat of Konishi.
- Ibarra's second home run of the day came in the top of the ninth, a bomb that stayed just fair down the left field line.
ROBERT BERNS YOU'VE GOT COMPANY@salty_rube has tied the San José State legend for No. 2 on the program's single-season home run leaderboard, becoming the first Spartan in 24 years to hit 14 homers in a season. #SpartanUp pic.twitter.com/ZHO2G7wRNm
— San José State Baseball (@SanJoseStateBSB) May 30, 2021
- The first baseman's 14 home runs on the year has him tied for second on the program's single-season list (Jeff Ball - 15, 1990).
- Ibarra enters the final day of the season tied with Nevada's Dillan Shrum for the most homers in the Mountain West.
- The bottom third of the Spartan lineup shined in the nightcap as Nelson Padilla, Dalton Bowling and Mercado combined to go 4-for-11 with four runs and two RBI.
- Corey Sanchez got the start on the mound while Darren Jansen and Kyle Bratset appeared out of the bullpen.