By Marissa Scott (@marissascotttt ):
San Jose State baseball played a four-game series at home against University of Northern Colorado and split the games 2-2. Here are 4 takeaways from the series.
Close games and comebacks
The Spartans proved their ability to always be in the game, no matter how big the deficit. In the first game against University of Northern Colorado, the Spartans were down 4-0 after the top of the first inning. SJSU scored two runs in the bottom of the first, one in the bottom of the third and three more in the bottom of the fifth to secure the win. In the second game, the Spartans were down 11-1 in the fifth inning. Although they didn’t win, they were able to chip away at UNC’s lead and lost, 12-7. SJSU was down 8-1 after the top of the fifth inning in the third game and scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth and six runs in the bottom of the seventh to come back and win the game, 11-10. The last game was the third match. The Bears were leading 4-3 most of the game but the Spartans ended up scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead. The game slipped away from them, but they showed poise the entire time. The fact that the Spartans have the ability to climb their way back from a large deficit is very important. The attitude it takes to win after being down 8-1 is a game–changer — especially with a new coach — and SJSU proved it had that ability in this four-game series.
Bullpen Ups and Downs
Inconsistency is something that already is hurting the bullpen. In the first game, the pen pitched 6.1 innings and gave up zero runs, which was a surprise for head coach Brad Sanfilippo. “Our bullpen really, really executed pitches and handed the ball to the next guy,” Sanfilippo said. “That was the game right there.”In the first game, freshman Wesley Clawson pitched two innings of relief, allowed no runs and struck out four batters. In the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, the bullpen went 5.1 innings and allowed eight runs off seven hits and eight walks. In the second game, the bullpen only gave up four runs off five hits. In the last game on Sunday, the bullpen held the opponents to two runs off five hits. Clawson also pitched in the last game and got the loss allowing two runs off three hits. The bullpen’s inconsistency can be costly if it doesn’t improve come conference time.
Timmons in mid-season form
Senior first-baseman Shane Timmons has proven yet again that he is the best slugger on the team. Timmons started all four games this weekend at first base and had 16 at bats. He had seven runs batted in off five hits, one which included the first home run of the Spartans’ season. After the four-game series, his batting average is now .313. He had clutch hits during the series and will be depended on heavily moving forward to make big plays.
Starting pitching lacked duration
During the four–game series, the four starters combined for 14.1 innings pitched and it didn’t have a good outcome. The longest start off the series was by freshman Nicholas Morales at 4.1 innings pitched. The ability for a starter to go deep into a game is very important because the bullpen can get used too often and easily tire out. “Our starting pitching didn’t go very deep into games, which put a lot of stress on our bullpen,” Sanfilippo said. “I think moving forward we would probably like a little less stress on our bullpen.”