SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State baseball team goes in search of its third consecutive Western Athletic Conference series victory this weekend -- and its first at home in 2022 -- as the Hornets play host to Seattle U for a three-game series at John Smith Field. Due to the Easter holiday, the series begins on Thursday (April 14) at 6 p.m., with game two under the lights on Friday (April 15), also at 6 p.m. Saturday's (April 16) series finale is scheduled for a Noon first pitch.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Seattle U (8-20, 6-9 WAC) at Sacramento State (15-17, 7-8 WAC)
WHEN: Thursday-Saturday, April 14-16, 2022
TIME: 6 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. PT / Noon PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field (1,200)
WATCH: ESPN+ (Subscription Required) - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
COMPLETE GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Seattle U
ON THE MOUND…
Thursday: RHP Colin Hunter (2-2, 3.57 ERA) vs. LHP Peter Chronowski (2-3, 3.47 ERA)
Friday: RHP Eli Saul (4-0, 2.82 ERA) vs. RHP Brady Liddle (1-3, 6.11 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Noah Takacs (0-2, 10.18 ERA) vs. RHP Riley Sinclair (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
IN THE RANKINGS...
Neither Sacramento State, nor Seattle U, are ranked entering this week's games. The Hornets were ranked as high as No. 20 in the nation by Baseball America on Feb. 28 following a 7-0 start, while also ranking No. 23 in the D1Baseball.com poll, No. 24 by the NCBWA, and No. 25 in the USA Today coaches poll. It marked the first time in the program's Division I history that Sacramento State has appeared in those respective rankings after the Hornets debuted in the national polls for the first time as a Division I program in 2021, coming in at No. 24 in back-to-back weeks in the Collegiate Baseball poll on April 5 and 12.
SCOUTING SEATTLE U...
The Redhawks enter the weekend with an 8-20 overall record and a 6-9 mark in WAC play, having lost two straight and eight of their last 10... Seattle U dropped 2-of-3 at home against Utah Valley last weekend and fell, 8-5, to the University of British Columbia on Tuesday heading into this week's conference series... The Redhawks have lost their last three WAC series dating back to their series win over Sacramento State on March 18-19 in Bellevue, Wash... Senior catcher Matt Boissoneault is the team's leading hitter at .356 on the season, slugging 10 doubles, three home runs, and a team-high 22 RBI... The Seattle U pitching staff sports a 7.52 ERA while striking out 214 batters in 247.2 innings... Opponents are hitting a combined .318 against the Redhawks' staff.
AGAINST THE REDHAWKS...
Sacramento State is a combined 22-16 against Seattle U in the history of the series between the two teams according to records that date back to 1986... The Redhawks took 2-of-3 from the Hornets in Washington earlier this year -- their second straight series victory against Sacramento State after taking 3-of-4 in Northern California last season... The Hornets' last series win over Seattle U came in 2019 when they took 2-of-3 from the Redhawks in Washington... Sacramento State is 10-6 at home against Seattle U, winning three of the five series played at John Smith Field.
LAST TIME OUT...
Gunner Gouldsmith finished 2-for-3, while Carson Blatnick and Jeffery Heard each collected hits on the night, but the Hornets could not contain a hot-hitting Fresno State lineup in a 19-0 loss to the Bulldogs at home on Tuesday (April 12) at John Smith Field.
LET'S GET SERIES-OUS...
With their 14-6 win on Sunday in Las Cruces, the Hornets clinched their second straight WAC series victory of 2022. Sacramento State won back-to-back conference series for the first time since taking 3-of-4 from Dixie State (March 26-28) and New Mexico State (April 9-11) at home last season that ended a run of five straight series wins that begin at the end of the 2019 campaign. The Hornets' last WAC series win at home came at the end of 2021 when they took 3-of-4 from UTRGV on May 20-22.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS...
Sacramento State's 6-5 win to start the series against New Mexico State kept the Hornets undefeated in series openers this year at 8-0, outscoring opponents by a 60-25 count in those contests. That streak grows to 11 straight wins in series openers dating back to a four-game series against conference rival California Baptist on May 7 of last year, last losing a series opener on April 30 against Grand Canyon.
FOR OPENERS...
The Hornet offense has been humming to start a weekend series, batting a robust .315 as a team while the pitching staff boasts a 2.92 ERA in those eight games, holding opposing hitters to a .200 combined average and 64 strikeouts in 71 innings, while burning opposing arms to the tune of a 6.82 ERA.
THEY HIT IT HIGH... THEY HIT IT DEEP...
The four home runs in games two and three at New Mexico State marked the most in a single game for the Hornets since they slugged four as part of a 14-1 win at California Baptist on May 9 of last season. The last time Sacramento State hit at least four home runs back-to-back games was back in 2008 when the Hornets slugged five at Louisiana Tech on April 3 and six more in the first game of a doubleheader on April 5.
RUN HORNETS, RUN...
The 29 runs scored in the series at New Mexico State last weekend were the most in a three-game series since the Hornets scored 33 at Northern Colorado on May 3-5, 2019, and the second-highest total in a series this season behind only the 31 scores in a four-game set against Northern Illinois to start the year. Sunday's 14 runs scored marked the team's second-highest total of the year and its fifth double-digit scoring performance of the season — its first since scoring 13 in the finale at Seattle U on March 19.
HIT HORNETS, HIT...
Sensing a theme? The 37 hits in the three games against the Aggies were the most since Sacramento State finished with 37 in four games against the Huskies and the most in a three-game series since collecting 37 hits against Chicago State on April 7-8, 2018.
TWICE THE POP...
Sophomore Cesar Valero's pair of two home run games in the final two contests of the series in Las Cruces gave him three multi-home run games this season -- the first Hornet to have multiple games with multiple home runs in a single season since Rhys Hoskins did so against the Aggies and Utah Valley during the 2014 campaign.
VALERO KNOWS JACK(S)...
Building on the note above, Valero also became the first Hornet hitter to hit two (or more) home runs in back-to-back games since Mikela Olsen did it (albeit four days apart) against UC Davis and Dartmouth on March 11 and March 15, respectively, during the 2003 season.
LEADER OF THE WAC...
Valero's 12 home runs entering the weekend are tops among all sluggers in the Western Athletic Conference (as of April 13) and rank No. 21 in NCAA -- just four off the national lead. Valero's 12 homers are the most by a Hornet since Rhys Hoskins slugged 12 in 2014, while one more would be the most for a Sacramento State hitter since Tim Wheeler crushed 18 home runs in 2009.
QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON...
Saul posted his sixth "quality start" (six innings, three earned runs or fewer) of the year -- and his fifth straight -- in the series opener at New Mexico State, allowing just two earned over six innings in the Hornets' win. In those quality starts, Saul is 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA, allowing eight earned on 27 hits over 39.2 innings, with 34 strikeouts and a .194 (27-for-139) average against.
SETTING THE TABLE...
Senior Nick Iwasa has helped spark the Hornets' offense as of late, reaching base safely in each of his last eight games -- and his last 13 consecutive starts dating back to March 15 at San Francisco -- hitting safely in five of those contests while scoring nine runs, drawing five of his team-high 19 walks in that stretch, and being hit by a pitch three times.
WELCOME BACK, MARTIN...
After missing 15 games, Martin Vincelli-Simard has shined in his last five starts, hitting .313 (5-for-16) while scoring a run in four of the games (five runs total) and driving in a run in three of those contests (six total), slugging a double, two home runs, and drawing three walks. He is slugging .750 in that stretch, while posting a .445 on-base percentage.
THIRD INNING'S THE CHARM...
Message to opposing pitchers... beware the third. After getting a good look through the first two innings, the Hornets have outscored their opponents 25-8 in that frame alone -- the second-highest scoring inning for Sacramento State this year behind only the 26 runs scored in the fourth.
STRIKE FIRST, STRIKE HARD, NO MERCY SIR!...
Sacramento State is 12-5 when scoring first this season, outscoring opponents by a 96-76 count through the first four innings, compared to a 124-77 deficit through the final five frames.
SIX WAYS TO VICTORY...
Must be their magic number. The Hornets are 8-3 this season when they score six runs or more, but just 7-14 when they fall under that number.
SOLO PERFORMANCE...
Of the Hornets' 36 home runs this far this season, 19 have been of the solo variety, including 16 of the last 25. Only six of the 36 round-trippers have featured two-or-more runners on base, with three of those coming last weekend during the team's series at New Mexico State.
SWIPER, NO SWIPING...
Thinking of running on Dylan McPhillips? Think hard. The senior catcher erased three would-be base stealers in the series against Grand Canyon, upping his total to seven (in 22 chances) on the year. The total is tied for fifth in the WAC entering the weekend, trailing Dixie State's Kaden Hollow, who has thrown out a league-best 12 runners attempting to steal.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER...
In all, nine different Hornets have accounted for game-winning RBI this season, after Dawsen Bacho's game-winner in the series finale at Utah Valley, while Cesar Valero leads all Hornets with five on the year. Josh Rolling has come around to score the game-winning run a team-high three times, while Nick Iwasa became the ninth different player to score a game-winning run. Of Sacramento State's 15 wins, five have come thanks to a go-ahead home run, while each of the last four winning runs have come home on doubles.
"WE DEMAND… A SACRIFICE!"…
When all you need is a fly ball to score a run, Sacramento State is your team. The Hornets rank No. 11 in the NCAA (as of April 13) with 21 sacrifice flies this year, while senior Steven Moretto is No. 14 in the NCAA with five in 2022. Moretto's total is the highest since Ryan Walstad finished with the same number in 2021.
MORETTO MOVES UP...
The Coquitlam, B.C., native's home run against the Pacific on March 29 was -- ironically -- the 29th of his career, moving him into a tie for fourth on the school's all-time list alongside Gabe Jacobo (2006-08), and putting him one back of both Chris Kinsey (2001-03) and Will Fitzpatrick (1990-93) for second on the list. Moretto stands six shy of the all-time mark of 35 set by Harvey Hargrove from 1995-97. Moretto also drove in the 130th run of his career against Utah Valley, giving him sole possession of fifth on that all-time list, five back of Fitzpatrick for fourth.
