What to know about the quest to defend the Mountain West Conference championship.
Andrew Pang
Following a Mountain West Conference championship season, a highly anticipated college baseball begins this Friday for the San Jose State Spartans.
San Jose State will start the season with a three-game series at UC San Diego from Friday to Sunday. Then on Monday will be the home opener vs. Cal State Fullerton at Excite Ballpark.
With a returning head coach, multiple core starters from last season, some impressive transfer recruits, and a challenging non-conference schedule, San Jose State was picked first in the Mountain West Conference coaches’ preseason poll, indicating that other coaches see this team as having the potential to run it back this season.
“We just need to figure out who we are, obviously a different team in a different way that we will need to figure out ways to win,” said San Jose State head coach Brad Sanfilippo in an interview posted on the Spartan Athletics official website.
2023 recap
In 2023, San Jose State had a second straight winning season, finishing 31-27 (18-11 Mountain West). After a first-place finish in the regular season conference standings, San Jose State won the Mountain West Tournament hosted by Fresno State. Facing elimination, San Jose State won three straight and wrapped up the conference championship tournament with a 12-9 win vs. Air Force on May 28.Lastseason had the first Mountain West regular season and conference championships in program history.
By winning the conference championship, San Jose State also qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.
Overview of the first four games
In a battle of conference champions, San Jose State flies to Southern California to face UC San Diego in a three-game series from Friday to Sunday. In 2023, UC San Diego finished 34-18 (21-9 Big West) and first in the Big West Conference standings.
All games will take place at Triton Ballpark on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla. Streaming video will beon ESPN+ (subscription required), and UC San Diego student radio stationKSDT will also broadcastthe Friday and Sunday games with a free live stream.
First pitch for the season opener will be Friday at 6 p.m. (PT). Ethan Ross (3-1, 8.35 ERA in 2023) will get the start on the mound for San Jose State, while UC San Diego will send Ryan Forcucci (4-1, 3.86 ERA in 2023) for the first starting pitcher spot.
The second game will be Saturday at 2 p.m. Micky Thompson (3-5, 4.44 ERA in 2023) is listed as the Spartans’ Saturday starter again UC San Diego’s Zack Ernisse (0-3, 6.52 ERA in 2023).
Then on Sunday will be the series finale with a 1 p.m. first pitch time. Michael Rice, a transfer from UC Santa Barbara, will be the Sunday starter for San Jose State. A redshirt junior, Rice was 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA last season and 6-1 with a 4.26 ERA in 2022. For UC San Diego, Matthew Dalquist returns to action after sitting out 2023 and much of 2022 with an injury. In his rookie season of 2022, Dalquist was 1-0 with a 2.11 ERA.
Returning home, San Jose State will then host Cal State Fullerton on Monday in a rematch of the 2023 NCAA Tournament elimination game where Cal State Fullerton beat San Jose State 9-5 at the Stanford Regional on June 3. Cal State Fullerton was 32-24 (20-10, tied for second in the Big West) in 2023.
The preseason Big West coaches’ poll picked UC San Diego third and Cal State Fullerton sixth.
Roster overview
Brad Sanfilippo, the 2023 Mountain West Coach of the Year, is back for his seventh season as head coach. His two assistant coaches are hitting coach Thomas Walker and pitching coach Joshua Pike. Walker, officially the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator, is in his fifth season at San Jose State. Pike is in his first season at San Jose State after holding various college and pro coaching jobs. In 2022 and 2023, Pike was a graduate assistant at NC State and bullpen pitching coach technician for the USA Collegiate National Team. Having previously been a pitcher for NC State, Pike brings a high level of baseball knowledge.
Four Spartan seniors were selected to the preseason All-Mountain West team: first baseman Hunter Dorraugh, left fielder Robert Hamchuk, shortstop Theo Hardy, and pitcher Micky Thompson. Dorraugh, Hardy, and Thompson all were on the 2023 All-MW team.
This year’s roster did lose some core members of the 2023 conference championship team to graduation: starting pitchers Jonathan Clark and Aaron Eden, closer Darren Jansen, center fielder Jack Colette, and right fielder James Shimash*ta. Additionally, second baseman Charles McAdoo left college early for a pro career.
However, San Jose State will retain the rest of the infield. Besides Dorraugh and Hardy, third baseman Dalton Bowling and catcher Matt Spear will be back.
“I’m just really proud of the guys that have returned and the mark that they’ve put on this team themselves,” Sanfilippo told Spartan Athletics.
On the mound, Thompson will be backed up by multiple returning pitchers: Joey Cammarata, Keaton Chase, Cade Cushing, Gary Hall, Ethan Ross, Corey Sanchez, and Cade VanAllen.
“We’re really lucky to have the group that we have coming back,” added Sanfilippo.
Out of the transfer portal, Sanfilippo added some quality recruits this offseason, including three who can bring depth at pitcher, Caden Duke from Pacific, Nolan George from UNLV, and Michael Rice from UC Santa Barbara. All three have extensive relief experience with some starts and decisions.
Other standout Division I transfers to this team include fifth-year senior outfielder Sebastian Orduño. In 81 games with 53 starts, Orduño hit .233 with 21 RBI and one homer at Oklahoma from 2022 to 2023. San Jose State also adds graduate transfer catcher Zach Griffin, who started 13 games at San Francisco in 2023.
How experienced is this team? Two players are in their sixth seasons of college baseball, pitcher Keaton Chase and designated hitter Nik Trapani. There are also at least ten fifth-year seniors, including starters Bowling, Hamchuk, and Ross.
Of the new freshmen, one does have a familiar name, outfielder Jeremiah Odum out of Tucson (Ariz.) High Magnet School. His father is Derrick Odum, who is now entering his eighth season as defensive coordinator for San Jose State football. As a senior at Tucson Magnet, Jeremiah Odum hit .229 with seven RBI.
The rest of the schedule
After the UC San Diego and Cal State Fullerton games, San Jose State has a three-game home series vs. Seattle from February 23 to 25. In 2023, Seattle was 21-32 (17-13 WAC, fourth in standings).
There will be a short turnaround for two tough midweek games, first on February 26 at Stanford for a rematch of last year’s NCAA regional opener. Stanford appeared in the 2023 College World Series and is no. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Then on February 27, the Spartans return to Excite vs. Santa Clara, another regional rival and 2023 NCAA Tournament participant. The WCC preseason poll picked Santa Clara to run it back for a second straight conference championship.
Conference play begins with a three-game series at UNLV from March 1 to 3. UNLV was tied for fifth in the 2024 Mountain West preseason poll after finishing 21-30 (12-18, sixth in MW) in 2023. The road trip concludes with a March 5 midweek game at Saint Mary’s (23-28, 14-13 WCC, tied for fifth in standings).
Then from March 8 to 10 is a three-game series vs. Air Force, a rematch of the thrilling final two games of the 2023 Mountain West Tournament. Saint Mary’s returns the favor with a midweek game at San Jose State on March 12, and San Jose State will ride the bus to another WCC opponent San Francisco (18-29, 8-19 WCC in 2023) on March 13.
From March 15 to 17 is what should be an intense rivalry series in San Jose vs. Fresno State, who was picked second in the Mountain West preseason poll.
Following a midweek game at Santa Clara on March 19, San Jose State will be at New Mexico from March 22 to 24. New Mexico (26-25, 13-17 MW in 2023) was tied for fifth with UNLV in the MW preseason poll.
San Jose State has one midweek home game vs. San Francisco on March 26 before returning to the road with a three-game series at UC Santa Barbara from March 28 to 30. Coming off a tie for fifth in the 2023 Big West standings at 35-20 (18-12 Big West), UC Santa Barbara was picked first in the Big West preseason poll and no. 18 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
The road trip concludes April 2 at Santa Clara, and conference play then resumes April 5 to 7 vs. San Diego State, picked fourth in the MW preseason poll after tying for first with San Jose State last year.
Perhaps the toughest games of the year then take place from April 9 to 10 at Arkansas, ranked no. 4 in the Coaches Poll. From the Ozarks to the Sierra Nevada, San Jose State returns to conference from April 12 to 14 at Nevada, picked by the MW preseason poll to repeat at seventh and last place.
The Valley Rivalry travels to Fresno with a three-game series at Fresno State from April 19 to 21. Then is a three-game home series vs. UNLV from April 26 to 28, an away midweek game at Saint Mary’s on April 30, an away conference series at Air Force from May 3 to 5.
The long road trip concludes with a week across the Bay Bridge, starting at San Francisco on May 7, then across the water to Berkeley at California from May 10 to 12. California was 24-28 (12-18 Pac-12) last year.
San Jose State will host New Mexico in the regular season finale series from May 16 to 18. The Mountain West Tournament will be hosted by San Diego State from May 23 to 26. Time will tell if San Jose State can win one series in San Diego in February and do it again in May.
This appears to be the toughest non-conference schedule in the Sanfilippo era, with three against preseason top 25 opponents (Stanford and Arkansas),six against power conferences (Arkansas, California, and Stanford), and six against 2023 NCAA Tournament participants (Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Santa Clara, and Stanford).
