In the rubber match of a three-game series, the San Jose State Spartans (10-8, 0-2 Mountain West) defeated the San Diego State Aztecs (6-13, 2-0 MW) by a score of 10-2.

“Garvey had a quality start,” head coach Shaun Cole said. “So our bullpens got to do a better job.”

SDSU came off a thrilling sweep in a doubleheader after a 16-1 run-rule win in the opening game and a 6-4 victory in the second. The Aztecs could not ask for a better start to open Mountain West play, but it also ended a bitter eight-game losing streak.

Left-hander Garvey Rumary (0-2, 5.60 ERA) was the starting pitcher for the Aztecs, while the Spartans went with lefty Win Scott (1-1, 6.75 ERA).

Rumary and Scott both had stellar starts to their outings with a perfect one-two-three inning.

In the top of the second, Spartan left fielder Jake McCoy belted a triple to the left field gap. Rumary hit shortstop Rocco Caballero to put runners on the corner with no outs.

SJSU took the lead after a failed pickoff attempt at first went past first baseman CJ Moran. Caballero advanced to third on the play and scored on a sac fly to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead. Rumary limited the damage there as he struck out the final two batters.

Scott continued to have a strong start to his outing as he retired the Aztecs in order for the second straight inning.

The Aztecs’ lefty struck out his third straight batter to start the third but gave up a single on a hit just out of the reach of shortstop Nevan Noonan. Rumary successfully picked off right fielder Alex Fernandes at first for the second out and ended the inning on the next pitch for his fifth strikeout of the game.

The Spartan lefty got two quick outs in the bottom of the third, but second baseman Josh Quezada drew a walk for SDSU’s first base runner. That would be it for the offense as designated hitter Drew Rutter struck out to close out the inning.

Just like the previous inning, Rumary started the inning with a strikeout and got McCoy to ground out on a great play from Noonan. While the lefty allowed a two-out walk to Caballero, he struck out the final batter for his seventh of the game.

Left fielder Jonathan Smith led off the bottom of the fourth with a single up the left side for SDSU’s first hit, but Noonan grounded into a double play in the next at-bat. While Moran hit an infield single, the Spartan lefty struck out Jackson to end the inning.

The first pitch the Aztec left-hander threw in the top of the fifth led to a ground out to Quezada. Following a walk, a 5-4-3 double play by the SDSU defense ended the fifth inning.

Scott continued to silence the Aztec’s offense in a stellar one-two-three inning on two strikeouts and a lineout to second.

Rumary remained on the mound for his sixth inning of work and hit Fernandes, who advanced to second on a sac-bunt. Following a long at-bat against Chamizo, the lefty won the battle by getting him to pop out.

Cole pulled Rumary after the at-bat for freshman right-hander Peyton Rodgers. The lefty pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs, only two earned, on two hits and walks and striking out seven for a career-high in innings pitched and strikeouts.

“I probably should have kept him out there,” Cole said. “We had a ton of arms to use today, so that’s why I made that change.”

McCoy hit his second triple of the game in the same spot to bring home Fernandes and triple the lead for the Spartans. Rogers bounced back after allowing the triple to end the inning on a line out to center fielder Jake Jackson.

Scott continued a career outing of his own after a one-two-three inning in the bottom of the sixth, capping it off with his fifth inning-ending strikeout. The Aztecs made another pitching change in the top of the seventh as lefty Luka Pintar came in for Rogers.

Pintar struggled to start the seventh as he gave up a lead-off single, a walk, and then an RBI double to give SJSU a 4-0 lead. Following the double, Cole took out Pintar and put in right-hander Evan Miranda.

Miranda entered the game in a tough position as both runners were in scoring positions with no outs. The righty got a much-needed first out on a fly out to Moran; however, San Jose blew the game wide open on a two-RBI triple down the left-field line to extend their lead to 6-0.

Miranda continued to struggle as he gave up an RBI single to make it 7-0 and another single to put runners on the corner. The righty limited the damage to four runs as a double play ended a rough inning for the Aztecs’ bullpen.

Noonan led off the bottom of the seventh with a single up the middle, who advanced to second on a passed ball. The Aztec bats woke up as Moran singled to right, and Jackson belted an RBI double to right to put them on the board.

Following the double, SJSU made a pitching change as righty Tyler Albanese came in for Scott. The lefty went six innings, giving up two runs on five hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.

With runners in scoring position and no outs, Albanese got two quick outs as Kelly struck out and Arambula grounded into a fielder’s choice. However, the Aztecs got another run on the play and cut the deficit to 7-2.

Catcher Evan Sipe drew a two-out walk to put runners on first and second for Quezada, who got hit by the pitch. Rutter came up to bat with the bases loaded, but he struck out looking to end the inning.

SDSU made another pitching change in the top of the eighth, calling on lefty Chris Canada. While the lefty struck out the first batter he faced, he gave up a triple down the right field line, the fourth of the game for the Spartans.

Canada struck out first baseman Drew Giannini, but a run scored on a double steal to make it an 8-2 game. The inning ended after a heads-up defensive play from Arambula, who threw out the runner attempting to score.

Noonan belted a one-out triple to left field to put a runner on third, but he was stranded as both Moran and Jackson struck out.

The Aztecs had their sixth pitcher of the game come in as lefty Connor Shaw was on the mound to start the ninth. Fernandes successfully laid an infield bunt, but back-to-back throwing errors led to him advancing to third. He scored on an RBI single to left to make it a 9-2 game.

After Shaw allowed another hit, righty Issac Araiza replaced him, recording a flyout and a strikeout before two walks brought in a run for SJSU. Lefty Chris Canavan then entered and needed just one pitch to get the final out.

Albanese remained on the mound to get the final three outs and made quick work of the Aztecs, only allowing a two-out single as the Spartans closed out a 10-2 victory.

“Offense is not a huge concern for me today,” Cole said. “The bullpen was and then we got a little sloppy defensively too, so we got to continue to tighten that up, but huge positives from all three of our starts this weekend.”

SDSU drops to 6-14 overall and 2-1 in Mountain West play as the Spartans move to 11-8 and 1-2 in conference play.

Scott gets credit for the win to jump to 2-1, Rumary falls to 0-3, and Abalnese earns the save.