SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Neil Jansen homered twice to lead the San José State baseball team (21-26, 8-12 MW) in a 9-4 victory over San Diego State (31-20, 14-6 MW) Saturday night from Tony Gwynn Stadium in the second game of a three game series.
The Spartans wasted little time setting the tone, jumping ahead in the second inning when Jansen launched a solo home run to open the scoring. After San Diego State briefly answered with a solo shot of its own, San José State took control in the third. Rocco Caballero reached base to spark the rally, and Alex Fernandes followed with a two-run homer to right-center, giving the Spartans a lead they would not relinquish.
In the fourth, the Spartans pushed across two runs on a sacrifice fly from Matteo Mendoza and an RBI single by Caballero. An inning later, Jansen struck again, this time with a two-run blast to left, to stretch the lead to 8–2.
The Aztecs briefly cut into the deficit with a two run home run in the fifth. However, a Peyton Rowles sac-fly in the sixth pushed the lead back up to five. The Spartans would hold the Aztecs hitless the rest of the way, securing the 9-4 victory.
On the mound, Jesse Gutierrez (1-4) worked five innings to earn the win, allowing five hits and four runs. Luka Pintar took over in relief and closed the door with four innings of work, not allowing a single hit or walk to secure the save.
- Jansen finished 2-for-4 with a walk, three RBIs and three runs scored
- Jansen is now up to five home runs on the season
- This is Jansen’s first career multi home run game
- This is also Jansen’s fourth game this season with three or more RBIs
- Fernandes went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and a walk
- Fernandes now has 23 multi-hit games and 12 multi-RBI games this season
- Fernandes’ home run was his seventh of the season
- Fernandes extended his hit streak to 10 games
- Caballero went perfect at the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI
- This was Caballero’s first game this season with three hits
- Rowles, Cota and Mendoza all tallied an RBI
- Pintar retired all 12 batters he faced against his former team to earn his first save of the season
- Gutierrez’s win was his first of the season, striking out two batters in the game
UP NEXT: The Spartans will play the final game of the three game series against San Diego State tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. from Tony Gwynn Stadium. The game can be watched on Mountain West Network.
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