San José, Calif. – San José State used seven runs in the opening two innings and a dominant performance out of the bullpen to topple California on Tuesday afternoon at Excite Ballpark.
The Spartans (2-2) emerged from Tuesday's non-conference tussle with a 10-7 victory over the Pac-12 foe, marking the program's second win in its last three games against Pac-12 opponents. In addition, the win is SJSU's fourth in its last six contests against power conference programs.
"That was a huge performance for Trevor Ernt out of the bullpen...taking the ball like that and keeping them off balance," said head coach Brad Sanfilippo after the win. "Our offense did a great job and gave us some room to run there. That is a really good club that we beat today."
Making his first appearance of the season, Ernt went six strong innings in relief for San José State. The sophomore earned the victory, striking out eight while allowing just one run on two hits in six innings of work.
Sophomore Robert Hamchuk and senior Jack Colette continued their strong starts to the season as both tallied multi-RBI games at the plate.
The home team exploded out of the gate with three runs in the first frame and another four in the bottom of the second. The Golden Bears (14-9) answered with six of their own, but Ernt entered the game in the third and was nails from that point on.
The Spartans gradually added to their lead across the middle innings, plating single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
It was a pair of sacrifice flies that got the job done in the fourth and sixth (via Colette and Nik Trapani), while a Hamchuk double down the left field line scored Taylor Justus in the fifth.
On the mound, Ernt continued to make bats miss with ease. The sophomore retired the side in order in the fifth, seventh and eighth, then turned the ball over to right-hander Darren Jansen in the top of the ninth.
TREVOR. ERNT.
— San José State Baseball (@SanJoseStateBSB) March 31, 2021
The sophomore continues to deal and we lead 10-7 going bottom eight. @trevor_ernt ?? pic.twitter.com/LYSQnfQQ46
Jansen sealed the deal on the win, picking up his first save of the season while putting the finishing touches on the 10-7 victory.
SJSU has now scored 30 runs in just four games and has scored in double-digits twice in the first four games of a season for the first time since 2005 (won 15-2, 13-6 at Cal Poly).
Sanfilippo's club will look to continue its winning ways when it heads to San Luis Obispo for a three-game set at Cal Poly later this week. The series will start Thursday and first pitch for the lid-lifter is set for 6:00 p.m.