SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento State won its fourth straight Western Athletic Conference series on Sunday, shutting out New Mexico State, 4-0, at John Smith Field. With the win, the Hornets took three of four from the visiting Aggies. 

Sacramento State (21-7, 13-3 WAC) turned to veteran left hander Brady Rodriguez for Sunday's start and the El Dorado Hills native did not disappoint. Rodriguez tossed five scoreless innings on Sunday, limiting the potent New Mexico State (11-17, 9-7 WAC) offense to just three hits. He walked one and struck out a career-high five.

The game was Rodriguez's 12th appearance this season, but his first start of the year, something he hadn't done since May 25 of 2019.

"I was excited, really looking forward to making the start," said Rodriguez after the game. "We've got nine guys behind me that wanted to win today's game and I was just happy to get out there and execute my plan."

"Brady did a really great job keeping them off balance," added head coach Reggie Christiansen. "His ability to throw three pitches for strikes, I thought he did a really good job."

Rodriguez matched his career-high with five innings on Sunday, a feat he has achieved three times in his career. The five strikeouts were a career-high for the left-hander. With the win, he improved to 5-0 this season while lowering his ERA to an excellent 1.09.

"After yesterday, using the pitchers we did, the opportunity arose for Brady to make a spot start today and who knows, there might be more in his future," added Christiansen. 

The Sacramento State offense helped Rodriguez out early, spotting him a 3-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a Steven Moretto three-run home run.

Dawsen Bacho doubled to start the inning and Hunter Dorraugh followed with a walk. With two on and none out, Moretto jumped all over the first pitch he saw for a lined shot out to left.

Moretto's home run was his team-leading sixth of the season and gave him RBIs 20, 21, and 22 for the season. The Hornets' junior third baseman is hitting .250 overall this season, but has been feasting on conference pitching, slashing .327/.429/.692 with five of his six home runs against WAC opponents.

Sacramento State's second-inning scoring was most of the offensive action on Sunday. Neither team scored again until the Hornets added one more in the eighth on a Trevor Doyle two-out RBI single to put Sacramento State ahead, 4-0. 

New Mexico State had a few opportunities against the Hornets' bullpen and reliever Jack Zalasky, putting runners at second and third with one out in the 7th. But Zalasky, who owns a spectacular 15.5 K/BB ratio, struck out the next two batters he faced to escape the jam. Zalasky also danced around trouble in the eighth, but ultimate threw two shutout innings while striking out three. 

"Jack's just been so consistent all year long, the last year and a half, really," Christiansen said of Zalasky. "The seventh and eighth were big innings and he pitched us out of a big jam there."

Stone Churby pitched the ninth for the Hornets, a 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout, to end the game and secure Sacramento State's third shutout victory of the season.

The series win is Sacramento State's fourth straight against a WAC opponent as the Hornets improved to 13-3 overall in conference play. The Hornets remain in second in the WAC, trailing the league-leading Cal Baptist Lancers at 11-1. Grand Canyon is right on the Hornets' heels, as well, at 11-4. 

Up next for Sacramento State is another home conference weekend as the Seattle U Redhawks journey to Sacramento to face the Hornets in a four-game set. The series will begin Friday night at 5 p.m. at John Smith Field. All of next weekend's games will stream live online on the WAC Digital Network with live stats available at HornetStats.com.

For the latest news, notes, schedule updates, and more, including direct links to streaming and live stats, be sure to visit the Sacramento State baseball schedule online at HornetSports.com.