The Cougars got out to an early lead and never looked back Friday against San Jose State. 

The Cougars scored four of their five runs in the second inning. They scored five runs on seven hits and held the Spartans to three runs. 

Griffin Smith worked a fantastic game for the Cougs, going 8 ⅓  innings giving up three runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Smith was replaced in the ninth by Scott Rienguette who earned his third save of the season. 

“It takes a lot of pressure off me and the defense to just go out there and throw as many strikes as possible,” Smith said about the benefits of an early lead. 

 Freshman catcher Alexandre Giguere jumped on a 1-0 pitch for a triple, bringing in Ryan Skjonsby. Dustin Robinson brought in Giguere on a sac-fly. With the bases loaded Matt Priest singled up the middle scoring two. The California native is playing like he wants another Freshman of The Week award. 

The Cougars had a milestone of sorts in this game, ending SJSU center fielder Alex Fernandes’ 29 game on-base streak. The Cougs also did not walk anybody, which head coach Nathan Choate was pleased with. 

“Much needed start out of [Smith]… we didn’t walk anybody which was outstanding,” Choate said. “It gives us an opportunity to win the series tomorrow.”

The Cougars tacked on another in the eighth when Skjonsby singled, scoring Priest. 

The Spartans would not score until the seventh inning on a Jake Mccoy home run that shot over the left field wall. They followed with an RBI double and an RBI single in the ninth for their last runs. 

 With this win the Cougars move to 13-16 overall and 6-5 in conference play. The rubber match between the Cougars and Spartans is 12:05 p.m. Saturday April 4 at  at Excite Ballpark.