SAN JOSE, Calif. – Neil Jansen went 2-for-5 with two RBIs a double and the game tying home run in the bottom of the ninth to lead the San José State baseball team (19-25, 6-11 MW) in a 5-4 14-inning loss to Grand Canyon (17-27, 7-10 MW) Saturday afternoon from Excite Ballpark in the second game of a three game series.
San José State wasted no time getting on the board. After getting hit by the pitch and then advancing to third off a wild pitch and passed ball on back-to-back pitches, leadoff hitter Alex Fernandes came around to score on a Peyton Rowles RBI groundout, giving the Spartans a 1–0 lead in the first inning.
Grand Canyon chipped away, tying the game in the fourth and taking a 2–1 lead in the sixth before a two-run seventh inning pushed the Lopes ahead 4–1.
The Spartans began their comeback in the eighth. After back-to-back hits from Fernandes and Rowles, Jake McCoy hit a sac-fly to bring home Fernandes and cut the lead to 4–2. Then in the ninth, Jansen launched a two-run home run to left field, scoring Brent Cota and tying the game at 4–4 to send the game into extra innings.
In extras, the Spartans held Grand Canyon scoreless through the 13th. The Spartans threatened in the 13th by loading the bases but couldn’t push across the winning run.
In the 14th, Grand Canyon finally broke through with an RBI single to take a 5–4 lead. The Spartans went down in order in the bottom half, giving the Lopes the series tying victory.
On the mound, starter Jesse Gutierrez held Grand Canyon to two runs over six innings while striking out five. EJ McGrew pitched 2.2 innings in relief, allowing two runs and five hits. Kyle Calzadiaz (1-5) pitched the final five innings, allowing just one run on three hits and striking out five.
- This was the Spartans sixth extra inning game of the season
- Jansen’s home run was his third of the season
- This was Jansen’s fourth multi-RBI game of the season
- Fernandes, Rowles, and JC Osorio-Agard all had two hits in the game
- Fernandes now has 21 multi-hit games this season which leads the team
- Rowles and McCoy each notched an RBI
- Osorio-Agard extended his hit streak to 11 games while Fernandes extended his to seven
- Rowles extended his on base streak to 21 games
- The Spartans struck out 12 Lopes in the game
UP NEXT: The Spartans will play the series decider against Grand Canyon tomorrow at 12:05 p.m. from Excite Ballpark. The game can be watched on Mountain West Network.
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