FRESNO, Calif. – The fourth-seeded Fresno State baseball team lost 13-2 in eight innings to the top-seeded San Jose State Spartans on Thursday night in the first round of the 2023 Mountain West Baseball Championships at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium.
With the loss, Fresno State (29-26) will next face second-seeded San Diego State (24-28) on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. PT in an elimination game.
NOTES:
With the loss, Fresno State is now 21-11 in the Bulldogs' games played at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium this season (11-6 against MW opponents).
Fresno State is now 11-11 all-time in MW tournament games, 2-3 all-time in MW Tournament games as the No. 4 seed and 3-4 in MW tournament opener games.
This is Fresno State's seventh appearance (out of 10 possible tournaments) in the MW Baseball Championship since joining the conference for the 2013 season.
This was the first time Fresno State has faced San Jose State in a MW Baseball Championship game.
As the No. 4 seed, Fresno State was the designated visiting team and will be for all games during the 2023 MW Championship, but the game counts towards the Bulldogs' home record and statistics.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Diamond 'Dogs struck first in the top of the third when Bobby Blandford earned a RBI by drawing a walk with the bases loaded for a 1-0 lead on the Spartans.
San Jose State (28-24) scored the next six runs in a three-inning span, which included three home runs and two RBI singles.
Fresno State cut its deficit to 6-2 when Grady Morgan ripped for an RBI triple.
SJSU added two more runs in the seventh on an RBI ground-rule double and a sacrifice fly, and then walked it off in the eighth with four more runs, including a three-run homer to end the game.