SAN DIEGO - Robert Hamchuk hit two home runs with six RBIs while Nathan Cadena went 4-for-5 with three RBIs to lead [3] San José State baseball (24-31, 16-14 MW) in a 16-9 win against [1] Air Force (27-27, 18-12 MW) in the 2024 Mountain West Baseball Championship from Tony Gwynn Stadium Friday night to earn a return trip to the championship game.
SJSU took an early 4-1 lead only for Air Force to tie it up 7-7 in the fifth inning. The Spartans then put the game away with three runs in the sixth inning, two runs in the seventh inning, three runs in the eighth inning and one run in the ninth.
The Spartans are 2-0 for the first time in the Mountain West Championship and are going to their third Mountain West Championship game in a row Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. as they look for back-to-back Mountain West Championships also for the first time.
- Hamchuk went 3-for-6 and extended his career-best hit streak to 21 games
- Hamchuk has the fourth longest hit streak in SJSU history
- Hamchuk has nine home runs on the season and added an RBI single
- This was the second time Hamchuk has had six RBIs in a game (05/15/22 at Air Force) and also the second time he has hit two home runs in a game (05/07/22 vs. Fresno State)
- The Spartans scored 18 runs in the tournament before their first home run
- Hunter Dorraugh hit his second triple of the season in the first inning and scored the first run of the game on a passed ball
- At his next at-bat, Dorraugh hit a two RBI double and has eight doubles this season
- Nathan Cadena had an RBI single in the fifth inning and a two RBI double in the sixth inning, plus scored two runs
- Cadena's four hits are a season-high and it ties a career-high
- Matt Spear hit RBI singles in the fifth inning and the ninth inning and has nine RBIs in his last six games and a career-high 35 for the season
- Spear ended the game going 3-for-5 plus scored a run
- Jackson Forbes went 4-for-4 with three runs scored
- His four hits are a career-high
- Jared Lewis hit a sacrifice fly and has eight RBIs on the season
- Sebastian Orduno had two hits with an RBI single in the sixth inning and scored three runs
- LHP Micky Thompson started and went 5.0 IP with five strikeouts in the win
- Thompson has thrown 244 pitches combined in his last two starts
- RHP Nolan George went 4.0 IP in relief striking out three on the way to his second save of the season
- Theo Hardy had a pair of hits and a run scored
- Dalton Bowling scored a run and has a career-high 41 runs scored this season
- The three runs the Spartans scored in the second inning were with two outs
- The Spartans scored three runs in four different innings during the game
- The Spartans had 20 hits from seven players in the win
- Sam Kulasingam hit two home runs and had three RBIs for Air Force
- Charlie Jones hit a two-run home run for Air Force
- The Spartans have given up 10 runs via the home run in the MW Championship
- The 16 runs were the most the Spartans have ever scored in a MW Championship game
UP NEXT: The Spartans play the winner of [1] Air Force and [4] Fresno State in the Mountain West Championship game Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and it can be seen on the Mountain West Network.
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