Mesa, Ariz. - Facing elimination from the 2011 Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament and a team they were playing for the sixth time in eight days, the San Jose State Spartans responded with an 11-3 win over the Wolf Pack of Nevada.
 
The win kept the Spartans alive in the tournament and ended the season for Nevada.  San Jose State's record improved to 35-25, while the Wolf Pack finished their season at 24-31.
 
Nevada got on the board with three-successive two-out singles in the bottom of the first.  Brian Barnett had the RBI to give Nevada an early 1-0 lead.
 
Still trailing 1-0 heading to the top of the third, Craig Hertler rapped out his second double in as many at-bats. Two batters later, with Hertler on third, Danny Stienstra grounded out scoring Hertler and the Spartans first run.  A walk and successive RBI singles from Zack Jones, Kerry Jenkins and Nick Borg pushed the Spartans advantage to 4-1.
 
In the fourth, San Jose State loaded the bases with two outs.  Jacob Valdez singled in two more runs on a shot to right center for a 6-1 lead.
 
After getting the first two Nevada batters in the bottom of the fourth, senior starter Blake MaFarland (8-2), walked successive batters and then gave up an RBI single to Waylen Sing Chow to cut the lead to 6-2.  The Wolf Pack got another run in the sixth to cut the San Jose State lead to 6-3 score.
 
In the top of the seventh, San Jose State faced three Nevada pitchers and scored four runs on three hits and one Wolf Pack error to go up 10-3. Nick Borg and Craig Hertler had RBI knocks.
 
They tacked on one more run in the ninth on an RBI triple from Herltler, who in the game went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs.  Valdez had two RBI and scored a run on a 1-for-3 day.  Borg was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run.  Jenkins and Jones each had two runs and an RBI, as well.
 
John Austin, playing in what would be his final game as a Spartans pitched three innings of two hit relief and earned the first save of his career.
 
"This was a must win game, an elimination game," Austin said.  "I was glad I could come in and save one for Blake.  We are both seniors and it was a nice way to end our careers.
 
"I really don't feel like I am ready to be done playing baseball.  I love this game so much and I love all my teammates.  They are some of the best I have every played with and I will never forget the fun we had together."
 
"Coming off a loss last night this was a character game," head coach Sam Piraro said.  "McFarland gave us six good innings and offensively we had good at-bats and took advantage of some mistakes.  Craig Hertler had an outstanding game.  He was the catalyst behind just about everything we did.  But, we got good at-bats up and down the lineup.  That, along with the pitching led to this win."
 
GAME TWO
 
The Spartans had almost no time to enjoy the win.  One hour after finishing off Nevada they took on Louisiana Tech in another elimination game.
 
Starter Andy Hennessey gave three runs in the top of the first.  Louisiana Tech got two hits to open the inning and an RBI on a groundout to score their first run.  Two batters later, they got an RBI single followed by an RBI double to lead 3-0.
 
The Spartans got one run back in the bottom of the frame.  With two outs, Stienstra singled and Valdez doubled to put runners on second and third.  Jones beat out a grounder to third which scored Stienstra. After one complete, Louisiana Tech led 3-1.
 
In the third, La Tech got the run back taking a three-run, 4-1 lead.  In the bottom of the inning, Jason Martin led off with a single, advanced to second on a ground out and moved to third on a wild pitch.  Valdez then hit a ball right down the first base line to score Martin and cut the lead to 4-2.
 
The Spartans got another run in the fourth on an RBI double from Anthony Bona and two more in the fifth.  Martin led off the fifth with a single, his second of the game.  Three batters later, with Martin on second and Valdez on first, Jones reached base on a fielding error which allowed Martin to score his second run of the game.  Kerry Jenkins then singled in Valdez from third to give San Jose State a 5-4 lead.
 
The lead was short lived.  In the top of the next inning La Tech pushed two runs across to take a 6-5 advantage that they would never relinquish.   Reliever Johnny Melero (3-3) had pitched well for 3.1 innings, but gave up successive walks to open the inning.  Both runners eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly and a fielding error.
 
Louisiana Tech's Will Alvis hit a three-run homer to left in the eighth to increase the laws to 9-5.
 
With two outs in the Spartans ninth, senior Tommy Gale, in his final at-bat as a Spartan, hammered a double to the gap in right center.  Jones then singled putting runners on the corners, but a line out to second ended the game and the season for San Jose State.
 
"Getting that hit felt amazing," Gale said.  "But I didn't need that at-bat.  I was trying to do my best from the bench.  I was yelling all day and lost my voice.  We were down four runs, but I didn't want anyone to give up.  We played hard and Coach Piraro made is obvious he was pleased with our effort.  There are times when you play hard and still lose.
 
"When they started scoring in the last few innings, it started to hit me that my career was coming to an end.  I haven't played a lot in the last two years, but I have been trying to help out in other ways.  I think I will miss Coach the most.  Everything in life after this will be easier.  He is tough and demanding, but I now understand why he is the way he is and I will forever be grateful to him."
 
After the game Coach Sam Piraro reflected on teh season.
 
"We won 35 Division I games and probably could have won 40 but for one or two things not going our way," Piraro said.  "They were little things and those can be the difference between our season ending today or possibly being a team that could have gotten an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
"I told the guys we had a good season.  It could have been a great season, but I am very proud of them.
 
"Every one of our seniors was a contributor this year.  From guy's who were pretty much everyday players to a defensive replacement like Tommy Gale.  They all got playing time and contributed and I will miss them.
 
San Jose State 11, Nevada 3 (May 27, 2011 at Mesa, Ariz.)
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San Jose State...... 004 200 401  - 11 12  1      (35-25)
Nevada.............. 100 101 000  -  3 10  3      (24-31)
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Pitchers: San Jose State - McFarland, Blake; Austin, John(7) and . Nevada - Cole, Jeremy; Suarez, Bryan(4); Rogstad, Tyler(7); Keplinger, Mat(7); Culligan, Timothy(8); Gardner, Matt(9.
Win-McFarland, Blake(8-2)  Save-Austin, John(1)  Loss-Cole, Jeremy(4-5)  T-3:04  A-0
Weather: 90F, wind out to LF at 6 MPH
 
Louisiana Tech 9, San Jose State 5 (May 27, 2011 at Mesa, Ariz.)
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Louisiana Tech...... 301 002 030  -  9 14  2      (34-26)
San Jose State...... 101 120 000  -  5 12  1      (35-26)
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Pitchers: Louisiana Tech - Petersen, Trevor; LeBreton, Mike(5); Dudley, Caleb(7) and .
San Jose State - Hennessey, Andy; Melero, Johnny(3); LeBaron, Eric(6); Kafka, Jason(8);
Russo, David Wayne(9) and .
Win-LeBreton, Mike(2-3)  Save-Dudley, Caleb(12)  Loss-Melero, Johnny(3-3)  T-3:02  A-0
HR LATECH - Alvis, Will (10).
Weather: 100F, wind out to LF @7 MPH