San Jose State Spartans baseball

San Jose State Spartans
Founded 1890 (1890)
University San José State University
Conference Mountain West
Location San Jose, CA
Head coach Jason Hawkins (1st year)
Home stadium San Jose Municipal Stadium
(Capacity: 4,200)
Nickname Spartans
Colors Blue, White, and Gold[1]
              
College World Series appearances
2000
NCAA Tournament appearances
1955 • 1971 • 2000 • 2002
For information on all San Jose State University sports, see San Jose State Spartans

The San Jose State Spartans baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of San José State University in San Jose, California, United States.[2] The team is a member of the Mountain West Conference, which competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. San Jose State fielded its first baseball team in 1890, although the current SJSU baseball media guide only provides records dating back to 1911.[3][4][5][6] The team plays its home games at San Jose Municipal Stadium in San Jose, California. The Spartans are coached by Dave Nakama. The team also plays select home games at Blethen Field, located on San Jose State's south campus.[6] In 2014, SJSU released plans to build a new baseball stadium to replace Blethen Field.[7]

History

The team first took the field in 1890. Known back then as the Normalites, the men's baseball beat a local high school team in the first recognized game.[3] From 1911 through the 2013 season, the SJSU baseball team compiled a win/loss record of 1,878-1,696 (.525).[6]

From 1965-2013, over 95 Spartans were taken in the Major League Baseball draft. As of 2013, 11 former Spartans are active professional baseball players in both major and minor leagues.[6]

The Spartan baseball team has made NCAA Tournament appearances in 1955, 1971, 2000 and 2002. In 2000, the team advanced to the College World Series.[6]

From 1997-2013, the SJSU baseball team competed in the Western Athletic Conference, earning three WAC pennants in 1997, 2000 and 2009.[6]

Under head coach and SJSU alumnus Sam Piraro (1987-2012), the SJSU baseball team reached the 30-win mark 17 times (including five 40+ wins seasons) and appeared in the national rankings 47 times.[6]

The SJSU baseball team has fielded sixteen All-Americans including four first-team selections.[6]

Making it to Omaha

Under the direction of head coach Sam Piraro, the Spartans played in the College World Series in 2000 in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams who accompanied the Spartans in Omaha were Clemson, Florida State, Louisiana State, Stanford, Texas, Louisiana-Lafayette, and the University of Southern California.[8] San Jose State was eliminated after the first round of the tournament by the number four seed, the Clemson Tigers.[8]

Year-by-year results

2011 Results

At the end of the 2011 season, the Spartans posted an impressive 35-win season with only 26 losses, however, they would take an early exit from the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.[6]

2012 Results

The Spartans took a turn for the worse after the 2011 season, finishing 22-29. This would also be the last year for head Coach Sam Piraro, who would be replaced by Dave Nakama.[6]

2013 Result

The Spartans had a very rough season under the new head coach Dave Nakama, posting a 17-41 record.[6]

2014 Results

The Spartans would only win a total of two more games than they had the previous season when the 2014 season came to a close. Their final record was 19-38.[6]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.