Easter Weekend Results

San Jose State (3-8) at Air Force (5-7)

A real mixed bag for this series. The Spartans got two good starts from Josh Goldberg and Andrew Mitchel but still mustered only a split of the first two games. Goldberg (2-3) lost his game in a courageous complete game as he walked only one. Shortstop Aaron Pleschner had a career game going 4 for 4. Colby Brown was the star for Air Force as he went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Game two went the Spartans way as Andrew Mitchel (3-0) went 7 good innings with 9 K’s and, again, only 1 walk. The Spartans win that one 3-1. No real offensive stars.The final game was ugly as I suspected it might be as the Falcons won 19-3 in a game over in one inning. Tyler Mortenson (1-4) wins his first game going 7 IP throwing lots of ground balls. That’s a winning strategy at Air Force. The Falcons had 16 hits, which works, but the 11 walks issued by Spartans pitchers was the real gut wrencher for the team. That adds up to 27 base runners and most scored. The offensive star in this one was Nic Ready as he was 4 for 5 with 3 RBIs and 5 runs. It seems he saw a lot of the game from second base or better. He also had his 8th home run.

New Mexico (6-6) at San Diego State (7-5)

I’m thinking the Aztecs can say sayonara to their ranking as they drop two of three at home to a Lobos team that may start winning now but haven’t done that well previously. The games were pretty well played as New Mexico won the first two 5-4 and 9-5 and dropped the final game 3-2. How’d the Lobos win game one? The pitching kept the Aztecs in the park, that’s how. Justin Slaten started and gave up all four runs but Malachi Emond (3-1) went 3 great innings in relief for the win. The pen was great in this game as Christian Tripp got save number 6. Game two was a case of EEEK! The big inning did us in! New Mexico scored 8 runs in the top of the second and that was pretty much it as they won 9-5. Reliever Nathanial Garley (2-1) went 6+ innings out of the pen for the win as he struck out 9 and walked 1. Them walks, what can I say that I haven’t said a million times? New Mexico had only 5 hits but I suspect they bunched them and some of the 10 walks they received in that inning. Yup, 10 walks. Game over. San Diego State salvaged one game by winning the final 301 behind the strong pitching of Garrett Hill (6-0). I want to emphasize again how big a deal it was for New Mexico to hold the Aztecs without a home run and the pitching to also keep the walks to a minimum. The pitchers should be walking around with their chests puffed out. Ah, that’s a ridiculous thought but you get the idea.

UNLV (7-5) at Nevada (9-3)

The first place Wolf Pack (how does that sound, folks?) took two of three from UNLV and the first in dramatic fashion. as they score a run in the bottom of the 9th to win it 5-4 as Dillan Shrum singles to score the winner. Game two was won by Nevada 8-7 and was as close as the score indicates as hits and crooked numbers were equal or close to it. The Rebels’ Bryson Stott and the Pack’s Joshua Zamora and Kaleb Foster all had three hits. UNLV turned on the power in the final game as they won 7-3 behind home runs by Nick Ames and Grant Robbins. Chase Maddux (3-3) got the win in going 6 effective innings. The loser was my favorite freshman pitcher Jake Jackson (5-1) who appeared human in this game.

Long Beach State (11-17) at Fresno State (16-11)

Three weird games. What the heck happened in game one? The Dirt Bags won 24-10 with three touchdowns and a field goat in the second and third periods. What I really meant to say was 18 runs in the 4-5-6 innings. No pitching for either team and too much hitting to single out any one player. I’ll take that back as Long Beaches’ (is that correct punctuation?) Jacob Hughey went 6 for 7 with 5 RBIs and 6 runs to complete his season (just kidding). Tristan Mercadel went 4 for 5 also. Zach Ashford went 2 for 5 with 4 RBIs and a home run for the mutts. A forgettable game for the home team. The Bulldogs took game two 15-7 behind the strength of 7 runs in the 6th inning which put them out of reach. Jaime Arias (3-0) won in relief. Jeremiah Burks, Carter Bins, Emilio Nogales, and Nolan Dempsey all had home runs for Fresno State and Dempsey had two other hits to produce 5 RBIs. The Mutts won the rubber game 2-0 behind the strength of Edgar Gonzalez (5-1) complete game 2 hitter and Nolan Dempsey’s third inning solo shot which proved to be enough.

Have any of you noticed that the Wolf Pack has quietly snuck into first place by two games over UNLV and San Diego State? Well it has and they could prove tough to dislodge. Another thing I noticed was that there at least two games that drew over 1,000 fans; at Fresno State and at Nevada. Good to see.