April 14, 2009
Box Score
San Jose, Calif. - The Pacific baseball team combined dazzling defense and five doubles to take a well-rounded 7-5 win against San Jose State on the road on Tuesday, April 14.
Pacific improved to 13-18 on the year with the victory while San Jose State fell to 24-9 on the year.
The Tigers' starting pitcher, senior Mark McCain (Dallas, Texas) got out of a jam while Pacific led 2-0 in the bottom of the second. With runners on first and third, McCain forced Danny Stienstra to ground into a triple play that eliminated Jacob Bruns at second, Stienstra at first and then sophomore Brian Martin (Livermore, Calif.) saw Anthony Bona try to advance home during the play. Martin fired home to senior Kurt Wideman (Fallbrook, Calif.) to complete the triple play as McCain headed back into the dugout after facing the minimum number of batters in the second. It was the first time Pacific turned a triple play during the Ed Sprague era.
After avoiding the possibility of runners scoring in the second, Pacific exploded for three more runs to take a 7-0 lead in the top of the fifth frame. With one out in the top of the fifth, junior Jamie Niley (Elk Grove, Calif.) singled through the left side, Martin doubled down the left field line to advance Niley over to third. Wideman then recorded his 17th double of the season, scoring both Martin and Niley. That double was good for the 37th of his career with the Tigers, moving Wideman into fifth place among Pacific's all-time hitters. After his two-bagger against San Jose State, Kurt is now three away from tying for fourth all-time.
During the next at-bat, junior Mike Walker (Marysville, Calif.) grounded out to third to advance Wideman 90 feet from home. Moments later, freshman Brett Christopher (Livermore, Calif.) singled to left field, earning his first RBI with Pacific as Wideman scored. Those three runs put Pacific up 7-0 in the top of the fifth, which proved to be just enough as San Jose State went on to score four runs over the course of the fifth and sixth innings to cut the lead at 7-4. The Spartans retaliated with one final run in the eighth, finishing up 7-5.
The Tigers recorded two runs out of the gates to start the game in the first inning, then two more in the third.
During the third, sophomore J.B. Brown (Alvin, Texas) singled to right field on the first pitch of his at-bat after snapping 20-game hit streak. Brown rebounded to record his 29th hit in 31 games this season. The next batter, Niley singled to move Brown over to second. That led the way for Martin, who laid down a well-executed sacrifice bunt to the pitcher, advancing both runners into scoring position. Walker the followed through with a single to score both Niley and Brown as Pacific took a 4-0 lead in the third.
McCain earned the win for the Tigers, improving to 2-0 on the year, while senior Cole Akins (Seattle, Wash.) earned his first save of 2009. Esteban Guzman suffered the loss for San Jose State.
The Tigers return to Big West Conference action when they travel to No. 6 Cal State Fullerton on Friday, April 17.
