By Sara Biela (@sarabielaa):
San Jose State baseball combined for four hits and stranded 10 runners on base in a 4-1 loss to the Santa Clara Broncos Tuesday night.
The Spartans (2-3) could not get runs across the plate even though they walked six times.
“We didn’t execute with runners in scoring position. We left 10 guys out there,” said head coach Brad Sanfilippo. “The fact that we had opportunities was great. We just got to do a better job with those opportunities.”
Freshman pitcher Brandon Ross made his first career start as a Spartan, but ran into some trouble in the first two innings.
The Broncos (2-2) got on the board right off the bat as senior first baseman Jake Brodt reached on a fielder’s choice that scored senior center field Joe Becht in the first inning.
In the following frame, SCU scored two more on freshman catcher Tony Boetto’s RBI double to right.
After that inning, Ross retired nine consecutive batters which included four Ks.
“I settled in and felt really good,” Ross said. “I picked up my tempo and tried to throw the ball a little bit harder.”
Ross ended the night with a final line of four runs on four hits with six strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched. He is the first Spartan starter to pitch into the sixth inning this season.
The first run of the night for SJSU didn’t come until the bottom half of sixth when junior designated hitter Michael Bowes hit a sacrifice fly to right field bringing in junior shortstop Aaron Pleschner.
The Spartan offense remained silent for the rest of the game while the Broncos trotted away with the three-run victory.
The Spartans will have a few days off before heading across the Bay Bridge to face the University of San Francisco Dons on Saturday.