By Ernie Gonzalez — Executive Editor
Jonathan Clark fanned 8 of the 16 Bronco batters he faced and Ruben Ibarra sent a missile over the left-centerfield fence to tie the game late, but four Santa Clara runs in the ninth iced SJSU’s Opening Day.
It was the ninth inning. Clark’s pitch count was high after relieving the four previous frames.
“We pushed him a little further than we wanted to,” said Spartan manager Brad Sanfilippo after the loss.
On a 3-2 count with two outs and no runners on base, Clark gave Santa Clara’s Jason Dicochea a free pass to first base by hitting him with the pitch.
Sanfilippo explained after the game that it would have been Clark’s last batter even if Dicochea would have reached base more conventionally.
Clark, who didn’t allow a hit, was replaced by junior transfer Jake Hernandez, who made his first appearance as a Spartan.
Hernandez gave up four runs while only facing five batters. One of the runs that scored was Clark’s runner, so the sophomore was officially given the loss without allowing a single hit.
The Spartans’ starting pitcher was junior transfer Spencer Long, who tossed 4.1 innings and gave up three earned runs while striking out four.
Clark, a reliever, said he didn’t expect to be on the mound that early in the ballgame.
“Whenever they needed me to throw a few innings here or there … that was the main focus,” Clark said.
Scoring wise, the Broncos struck first with an RBI single in the first inning.
There wasn’t any action until the fifth, where both teams crossed the plate.
The Broncos scored twice, ending Long’s day. SJSU’s first run of the season came on a Robert Hamchuk blooper to centerfield that scored JC transfer Ruben Mercado.
In the eighth inning, redshirt sophomore Ruben Ibarra launched an absolute rocket over the fence to tie the game.
“He’s done it every weekend all fall,” Sanfilippo said. “We’ve been watching that a lot in practice so for him to do it in the first game of the year … it fired us up.”
Even sophomore Troy Viola, who was on deck felt his jaw drop when he saw Ibarra’s swing.
“That guy is a threat when he’s in the box,” Viola said. “We expect that out of Ruben. He’s worked his butt off.”
The following half inning however, four Bronco runs crossed home.
This marks the first Opening Day loss for SJSU since its 2017 opener to UCLA.
Things pick up fast though as the Spartans and Broncos will meet twice tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m.