Courtesy: San Jose State Athletics Chris Williammee hit his second home run of 2006 to straightaway center in the 10-run fifth . (Photo by Ron Fried)

San Jose, Calif. - San Jose State counted four home runs among its 16 hits, got 13 strikeouts from two veteran pitchers and made several nice defensive plays in the field in registering a comprehensive victory over New Mexico State, 22-3, in the second game of a three-game Western Athletic Conference series at Municipal Stadium on Saturday, May 6.

With its fifth straight league victory, San Jose State improves to 32-18 overall and 11-6 in the WAC. The Spartans, who assure themselves the series victory, are 1.5 games back of first-place Hawai’i. New Mexico State drops to 18-30 overall and 5-12 in league play. San Jose State had won Friday night’s opener against the Aggies, 7-6, on a walk-off home run by Ryan Angel in the 10th inning.

MOST RUNS IN A GAME SINCE 2002

The season-high 22 runs is the most the Spartans have scored in a single game since a 26-3 seven-inning demolition of San Francisco State in San Jose on March 3, 2002. The SJSU hit total of 16, however, is two short of the 18-hit effort in an 11-5 win against South Bay rival Santa Clara at Blethen Field back on March 4.

San Jose State batted around in both the second and fifth innings, sending 11 and 13 men to the plate in scoring six and 10 runs, respectively. Remarkably, all 10 runs in the fifth came with two outs. In all, 18 of the 22 runs the Spartans scored, came with two away. The four home runs, including one of the inside-the- park variety by freshman first baseman Brian Chase, were a season high.

On the mound, senior left-hander Branden Dewing threw the first six innings and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. The WAC’s ERA leader struck out the side in the sixth, his final frame. Dewing (7-3) allowed three hits, two runs and one walk.

“The first two innings were rough, but by the third, I got into a groove and was confident in my pitches. Plus it helped that we scored a lot of runs. (The offense) takes the pressure off (the pitchers). We’ve always been a pitching- and defense-oriented team, so it’s great to see our offense come up and score runs.”

CABRAL THROWS THREE INNINGS TO CLOSE IT OUT

Junior right-hander Corey Cabral tossed the final three innings effectively to earn his first career save in his third game back from an injury that cost him most of the 2005 season. He allowed three hits and one run while striking out three. Sam Hall made a pair of diving grabs in center field in defense of Dewing, robbing rightfielder Patrick Fields in the second and leftfielder Derek Maytubby in the fourth. Leftfielder Greg Fyfe made a diving catch of his own in the eighth, while the Spartans turned their league-leading 49th double play in the seventh.

San Jose State began the scoring with its six-run second. Hall was hit by a Jeremy Andarakes pitch to lead off, prior to a single by rightfielder Donato Giovanatto, and moved to third with his team-leading 17th steal. Chase’s sacrifice fly put the Spartans on the board. After two were out, Angel, freshman shortstop John Shaffer and Hall all had RBI singles, with Fyfe adding a two-run single.

ANGEL HOMERS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT DAY

Up 6-2, Chase walked to begin the bottom half of the third. Sophomore right-hander Brian Sizemore replaced Andarakes and issued a walk to catcher Brody Massman, setting up a perfect sacrifice opportunity for second baseman David Pierson. Pierson’s league-leading 13th sacrifice also put him in a tie for first all-time at SJSU with 45 over his career. Angel then launched his second home run in as many games and fifth of 2006, a three-run shot to left.

The Spartans broke it wide open in the fifth. Sizemore got Pierson to fly out to left and Angel down on strikes, before SJSU proceeded to score 10 runs in the frame. Hall had a two-run double before Chase’s two-run, inside-the-park home run. Aggie centerfielder Vince Rodden hit the wall hard in pursuit of the ball, and had to leave the game. Leftfielder Chris Williammee later blasted a three-run home run to straightaway center to close the scoring in the inning. The home runs were the third and second on the season, respectively, for Chase and Williammee. Four of the runs in the fifth were unearned due to a New Mexico State fielding error.

CAMPOS GETS FIRST SPARTAN HOME RUN IN EIGHTH

Raul Campos, who had entered for Shaffer at shortstop defensively in the top of the eighth, hit a two-run shot to left with two outs in the bottom half, following a walk to Fyfe. Chris Balatico, a sixth-inning pinch-hitter, then laced his third triple of 2006 and scored the final SJSU run of the afternoon on another Aggie error.

“I went up to get a pitch to hit, and I got it up in the wind,” said Campos of his first home run in a Spartan uniform. “I didn’t think I got all of it. The hitting really came around today. We’ve been working hard in practice, coming up with a good approach and working hard at it.”

ANGEL ADDS THREE HITS TO WAC-LEADING TOTAL

Angel finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and matched his career high with five RBI. Hall was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and three RBI. Angel and Hall have six and seven RBI, respectively, thus far in the series.

“I’m seeing the ball real well, which is key,” remarked Angel. “(Sam) Hall and (Greg) Fyfe came up with some big plays in the outfield and we played real well. We came out and executed our game plan.”

Williammee, Shaffer, and Giovanatto added two hits apiece, while Williammee, Fyfe and Massman all scored three times. Chase equaled his career high with three RBI. Fyfe, Shaffer and Campos drove in two runs apiece.

Said Williammee, “I felt good and confident at the plate. I’ve been working real hard with (hitting) Coach (Jason) Bugg in the cages, and he stresses being aggressive while staying selective in the zone.”

“It was real refreshing to give the pitchers some breathing room,” commented San Jose State head coach Sam Piraro. “We did a lot of good things today. We hit the ball real well with two outs, we had a good approach and came out tough. I was pleased with the pitching. (Branden) Dewing was very sharp and by the third inning, he had three pitches working for him. (Corey) Cabral was able to stretch it out at the end.”

Andarakes (0-2) went two-plus innings on the mound for the visitors, allowing six hits and seven runs, all earned. Sizemore gave up eight hits and 12 runs, eight of them earned, in 5.0 innings. Jason Rodriguez threw the eighth for NMSU. Adam Harvey was the lone Aggie with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Rodden hit an RBI triple and scored in the third.

SPARTANS GO FOR SWEEP AT NOON SUNDAY

San Jose State will go for its second straight three-game series sweep as the Spartans and Aggies conclude the set on Sunday, May 7. The finale at San Jose Municipal Stadium has an earlier start time of 12:00 p.m. Josh Amberson (5-3, 3.92) is expected to start for the Spartans against fellow junior right-hander Brian Gausman (3-5, 6.03).

Concluded Piraro, “I told the guys that we can’t use the runs tomorrow, so it’s going to be a tough game against a tough opponent.”

New Mexico State (18-30, 5-12) 002 000 001 - 3 6 2
San Jose State (32-18, 11-6) 063 0(10)0 03X - 22 16 0

Andarakes, Sizemore (3), Rodriguez (8) and Lance, Quade (5). Branden Dewing, Corey Cabral (7) and Brody Massman, Justin Santich- Hughes (7). WP - Branden Dewing (7-3). LP - Andarakes (0-2). Save - Corey Cabral (1). 2B - Vincent (NMSU); Sam Hall (SJSU). 3B - Rodden (NMSU); Chris Balatico (SJSU). HR - Ryan Angel (5), Chris Williammee (2), Raul Campos (1), Brian Chase (3). 3 hits - Ryan Angel (SJSU). 2 hits - Harvey (NMSU); Chris Williammee, John Shaffer, Sam Hall, Donato Giovanatto (SJSU). 5 RBI - Ryan Angel (SJSU). 3 RBI - Chris Williammee, Sam Hall, Brian Chase (SJSU). 2 RBI - Greg Fyfe, John Shaffer, Raul Campos (SJSU). Attendance - 482.