Spring semester is in full swing and next on deck is the San José State baseball team, as its regular season is around the corner.
Success runs through the Spartans as the team has reached the Mountain West championship in each of its last four seasons. They finished with a regular season record of 29-30 and fell short to the Fresno State Bulldogs last season in a 9-1 loss on May 24, 2025.
SJSU will have to worry less about losing familiar faces this season. Last season, only 14 players returned to the roster while this year 19 will be returning.
There’s more of a veteran presence on the roster as well, with 20 players being seniors or graduate students.
Brad Sanfilippo, head coach for SJSU’s baseball team, said this season the team will have a nice contrast of veteran leadership alongside younger talent.
“This older leadership that we have hopefully will bring a big role with some of those guys along,” Sanfilippo said.
Senior outfielder Alex Fernandes is one of many players that look to bring that leadership. As a member of the team who played every game last season and had a batting average of .361, he is one of three players named in the Mountain West preseason all-conference team.
Alongside him on that list is junior pitcher Tyler Albanese and senior pitcher Kyle Calzadiaz, who had the lowest ERA in the Mountain West during the second half of the season.
SJSU opens its regular season on the road against Long Beach State for a three-game series, the first being 6:05 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Blair Field in Long Beach, California.
Calzadiaz is in line to be the Friday night starter for the Spartans, as senior pitcher Jesse Gutierrez is still recovering from an injury that required Tommy John surgery.
Gutierrez is an impactful player on SJSU, but Sanfilippo said he’s taking no gambles on inserting him for long periods of time early in the season.
“I’ve been unbelievably cautious, we’re trying to take it slow,” Sanfilippo said. “I believe that you’ll see Jesse opening weekend for an inning or two.”
The pitching staff looks to be the bright spot of the roster, but SJSU brought in some new recruits offensively to add some extra depth.
Graduate student outfielder Brent Cota headlines as one of many new additions to the team.
The Cal Poly Pomona transfer had a .350 batting average, four home runs and 23 RBIs last season, being named an All-CCAA honorable mention.
The Spartans also brought in sophomore infielder Rohn Klein from the University of Utah. He hasn’t had many reps in his collegiate career, but he stands at six feet and four inches tall and could be a project for the future trajectory for the Spartans.
With the large number of seniors, the Spartans have the potential to secure a Mountain West championship after falling short in the last two seasons.
Even with the recent success, Sanfilippo said there’s no difference in what their goal is from now compared to previous years.
“Everyone goes in with the same goals and it’s to get to a conference championship and to go to a regional,” Sanfilippo said. “And those are the expectations that we have. Anything short of that is not what we set out to accomplish.”
