SACRAMENTO -- Following a run of eight straight at home, the Hornets become road warriors for the next week as Sacramento State opens a five-game road trip on Tuesday (March 15) with a midweek game at San Francisco. First pitch from Benedetti Diamond is scheduled for 2 p.m.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Sacramento State (9-7) at San Francisco (10-8)
WHEN: Tuesday, March 15, 2022
TIME: 2 p.m. PT
WHERE: San Francisco, Calif.
STADIUM: Benedetti Diamond (2,000)
WATCH: WCC Network
LIVE STATS: USFDons.com
ON THE MOUND...
San Francisco: RHP Owen Stevenson (1-1, 2.21 ERA, 5 APP, 4 GS, 10 K's, 20.1 IP, .208 BAA)
Sacramento State: RHP Tyler Stewart (1-2, 6.07 ERA, 6 APP, 1 GS, 7 K's, 13.1 IP, .220 BAA)
SCOUTING THE DONS…
San Francisco enters Tuesday's clash with a 10-8 overall record, but the Dons have lost their last four straight after winning five-in-a-row… USF was swept in the three-game series at Arizona State last weekend, which also featured a loss to Missouri in a doubleheader of sorts last Saturday… The run followed four straight wins over St. John's at home and a midweek win over Fresno State prior to leaving for Tempe… Sophomore infielder Luke Keaschall leads all Dons hitters with a .319 average and 22 hits to go with eight doubles, a pair of home runs, and 10 RBI… Senior outfielder Jordan Vujovich leads the team with four home runs, while sophomore infielder Mario DeMera paces the lineup with 15 RBI… The USF pitching staff sports a 5.26 ERA and has stuck out 144 in 159 innings, while opponents are hitting .263 combined against the Dons' arms… Tuesday's scheduled starter, sophomore right-hander Owen Stephenson, has started four of his five appearances on the year, surrendering one run or fewer in four of those five games… His last start came at Arizona State on March 11, giving up three runs on four hits in 4.1 innings… He went a season-high six innings against Utah Valley on Feb. 25, giving up a run on three hits in six innings of work.
AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO…
Sacramento State is a combined 36-40 against San Francisco according to series records that date back to 1986… The Hornets have won three of the last four meetings with the Dons, including a 4-0 win in the last meeting on May 16, 2021, in San Francisco… That followed five consecutive wins by USF in the series, including a 12-4 win by the Dons on March 10, 2020 — Sacramento State's last game before the pandemic canceled the remainder of the 2020 season… The Hornets are 17-20 overall on the road against USF, having won their last two trips to Benedetti Diamond after losing four straight.
AGAINST THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE…
Sacramento State has played the 10 current baseball-playing members of the West Coast Conference pretty even over the years, sporting a 164-169-1 record against the league since 1986… The 47 wins over Saint Mary's are the most against any one opponent for the Hornets, followed closely by the 46 wins against Pacific in that all-time series… Sacramento State has also posted double-digit wins against both San Francisco (36) and Santa Clara (21) in those respective series… The Hornets are 6-4 in their last 10 against the WCC dating back to last season.
LAST TIME OUT…
After falling in a midweek game against Saint Mary's, Sacramento State opened Western Athletic Conference play at home by dropping two of three to Dixie State to close out its eight-game homestand. The Hornets won the opener against the Trailblazers, 9-2, behind Eli Saul's six-strikeout performance on the mound before dropping games two (18-7 in eight innings) and three (4-3).
LOOKING AHEAD…
Following the game at San Francisco, Sacramento State heads to the Pacific Northwest for four games. The Hornets pick up WAC play over the weekend (March 18-20) at Seattle U on Friday (4 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.), and Sunday (Noon), before remaining in the "Emerald City" to take on Washington on Monday (6 p.m.).
HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• After opening the year 7-0, Sacramento State has lost seven of its last nine, including a pair of one-run contests.
• Sophomore Jorge Bojorquez paced the Hornet offense last week, batting .467 with a pair of walks, and two RBI, posting an on-base percentage of .474 for the week.
• Bojorquez's run of 15 consecutive games having reached base safely this season (and, upon further review, a run of 29 straight dating back to 2021) came to end in the finale against Dixie State, when he was held off the base paths for the first time since March 12 of last season against Tarleton.
• Senior catcher Dylan McPhillips found his swing in the series against Dixie State, finishing 5-for-9 (.556) with a double, his first home run of the season, four runs scored, and four RBI — all coming after opening the year 0-for-12 at the plate.
• McPhillips' three hits in game two of the series against the Trailblazers were the most since he finished 3-for-4 in the opener against New Mexico State on April 9 of last season.
• Sophomore left-hander Max Pettey was stellar in his three relief appearances last week, allowing just one run on three hits in 4.1 innings of work, striking out four and holding opposing hitters to a .200 average.
• After earning a no decision in his first three starts of the year, sophomore right-hander Eli Saul picked up his first win of the year in the opener against Dixie State, scattering five hits and striking out six over six innings, holding the Trailblazers to a .227 average.
• Someone finally broke through against Hornet reliever Jack Zalasky, who surrendered his first run of the season in the finale against Dixie State. Zalasky has a 0.64 ERA in five relief appearances, holding opposing hitters to a .111 average and striking out 14 batters in 14 innings of work.
• Freshman Jeffery Heard (the first of his career), sophomore Josh Rolling (his second of the season), and sophomore Josh Walker (his second of the season), joined McPhillips in leaving the yard last week, giving Sacramento State 15 home runs in 16 games thus far this year.
• That is just behind the pace of 2021, when the Hornets slugged 19 home runs in its first 16 games — including a pair in each of the final five games of that stretch.
• Sacramento State logged double-digit hits in each of the first two games against Dixie State — the fifth and sixth such performances this season.
• With their 9-2 victory over the Trailblazers, the Hornets improved to 4-0 in series openers this season.
• Heard and teammate Carson Blatnick are earning the "Bruise Brothers" moniker after combining for nine — five by Blatnick and four by Heard — of the team's 16 hit by pitches this season.
