Box Score SACRAMENTO -- Sophomore right-hander Eli Saul struck out six and scattered five hits over six innings of work while Nick Iwasa's three-hit night paced a group of four Hornets with multiple hits for the game, leading the Sacramento State baseball team to a 9-2 victory over visiting Dixie State in its Western Athletic Conference opener on Friday night at John Smith Field.
The win snapped a four-game skid for the Hornets, who improved to 9-5 overall and 1-0 in league play. The Trailblazers evened their record at 6-6 overall and 2-2 in conference with the loss.
Saul (1-0) earned his first win of the year, giving up only two runs and working around four walks in the win before giving way to Max Pettey in the seventh, as Sacramento State improved to 4-0 this year in games that he has started. Pettey allowed only one hit and struck out three in his two innings of relief, while Ryan Fleming closed out the night for the Hornets with a pop-up, strikeout, and ground ball to end the game.
Dillon Holliday (1-2) took the loss, allowing six earned on nine hits while striking out six in five innings.
Sacramento State scored early and often to jump ahead, plating two in the first on a Cesar Valero double and a sacrifice fly by Jeffery Heard for the 2-0 lead. Dixie State clawed a run back in its half of the second, but the Hornets poured it on with three in the home half, pulling away from the Trailblazers.
Gunner Gouldsmith got things started with a two-run single, scoring Dylan McPhillips and Steven Moretto for the 4-1 lead. Jorge Bojorquez added another sac fly three batters later to make it 5-1.
Iwasa's RBI single in the fourth increased the Hornet lead and McPhillips drove home another in the fifth for a 7-1 advantage before Dixie State stopped the bleeding with a run of its own in the sixth. Moretto's RBI double in the seventh and another sac fly by Bojorquez in the eighth capped the scoring for the Hornets.
Along with Iwasa's three hits, Bojorquez, Moretto, and McPhillips, all finished with two hits on the night — the latter recording his first two hits of the year. Both McPhillips and Gouldsmith scored a pair of runs to help set the table for the Hornet offense.
The three-hit performance was Iwasa's fourth three-hit game of the season, while Bojorquez collected his fourth multi-hit game of the year, reaching base safely for the 15th consecutive game dating back to last season.
Game two of the series begins Saturday (March 12) at 4 p.m., with freshman left-hander Noah Lucchesi scheduled to take the mound for Sacramento State against the Trailblazers' Brett Portion.
