SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Interstat) — The San Jose State Spartans erupted for 10 runs in the first inning and cruised to an 18-6 victory over the Santa Clara Broncos in a nonconference baseball game Tuesday at Stephen Schott Stadium.

The offensive explosion, which saw 14 Spartans come to the plate in the opening frame, rendered the rest of the game a formality and avenged an earlier season loss to their South Bay rival.

San Jose State (11-12) sent its entire lineup to the bat in the top of the first against Santa Clara starter Armen Aivazian, who failed to record an out. The inning was fueled by a costly error, a balk and timely hitting. Jake McCoy drove in the first run with a single, Rocco Caballero added an RBI double and Brent Cota followed with another run-scoring double. After a pitching change, Rohne Klein capped the historic inning with a three-run homer to left-center field, plating three unearned runs.

The Broncos (9-14) showed brief life in their half of the first, scoring two runs on an RBI double by Ben Medicoff and a run-scoring triple from Max Ross. They added two more in the second on a two-run homer by catcher Johnny Luetzow and pushed across two additional runs in the third on a walk and a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 10-6.

That was as close as Santa Clara would get. San Jose State answered immediately in the third inning, with Cota launching a solo home run and Peyton Rowles later crushing a three-run shot to right-center, extending the lead to 14-6.

The most important part of the game came after the Broncos loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the third, threatening to further close the gap. San Jose State reliever Peter Herrick entered and induced an inning-ending groundout to second base. Herrick then delivered a dominant performance, throwing 4 1/3 innings of perfect relief with four strikeouts to stifle any remaining Santa Clara hope. He faced the minimum, with two double plays behind him erasing the only two baserunners to reach via error and hit by pitch during his outing.

The Spartans continued to add on, with Cota delivering a sacrifice fly in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth. JC OsorioAgard contributed an RBI double in the seventh, and Caballero added a run-scoring groundout.

Cota, the Spartans’ top star, broke out of a recent slump in a major way, going 3 for 4 with a home run, a double, a sacrifice fly and five RBIs. Klein finished with two hits and four RBIs, while Rowles drove in three. Caballero had two hits and three RBIs, and McCoy added two hits, including a homer, and two RBIs.

For Santa Clara, Luetzow’s two-run homer and Ross’s two hits and an RBI paced an eight-hit attack. The Broncos grounded into two double plays. Max Reimers provided a bright spot in relief, striking out three and allowing just one hit over 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

The lopsided result defied pregame projections from Interstat, whose game simulator had predicted a 6-4 San Jose State win and whose ELO system gave Santa Clara a 57.7% probability of victory.

The two teams are scheduled to meet again at Stephen Schott Stadium on Monday. San Jose State opens a three-game series at UNLV on Friday, while Santa Clara begins West Coast Conference play at home against Loyola Marymount.