By Georgia Blair — Staff Writer
San Jose State (18-22, MW 12-9) heads up the road Tuesday to face No. 2 Stanford (27-6, 13-2 PAC-12) in a tough midweek matchup.
The Spartans have struggled as of late due to an injury-riddled roster.
Juniors Kellen Strahm and Johnny Mendoza have been missed both at the plate and at their defensive assignments.
Strahm was the Spartans’ leading hitter and will be missed in the heart of their line up, as the loss of Mendoza behind the dish is an ongoing issue.
After a forgettable weekend of being swept by Fresno State, SJSU will be looking to bounce back with a non-conference game to set themselves up for the four game road trip.
SJSU is only 6-13 in non-conference play and this week is an opportunity to change that.
Senior shortstop Aaron Pleschner and sophomore Connor Konishi will need to stay hot both in the box and defensively.
Some of the new faces in the line up will also need to step up if they are going to stand a chance against the red-hot Stanford lineup.
One player to watch is junior Will Matthiessen, a dual threat for Stanford. He leads the team in batting average and RBIs and has chewed up a lot of innings for the Cardinal on the hill.
The Spartans have lost six in a row and will come up against a roster that has only lost six games all season and will be riding a four-game win streak.
Of the 11 games, Stanford leads SJSU 8-3 all-time.
Head coach Brad Sanfilippo has not announced a starter as the pitching rotation for midweek games has been unpredictable.
The game is slated for a 6 p.m. start on Tuesday at the Sunken Diamond at Stanford.
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