SACRAMENTO -- Riding high following its third consecutive Western Athletic Conference series win over the weekend, the Sacramento State baseball team opens a run of five straight games away from home in Stockton, Calif., on Tuesday night (April 19), taking on Pacific. First pitch from Klein Family Field is scheduled for 6 p.m.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Sacramento State (17-18) at Pacific (11-23)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 18, 2022
TIME: 6 p.m. PT
WHERE: Stockton, Calif.
STADIUM: Klein Family Field (2,500)
WATCH: WCC Network (https://wccsports.com/watch/?sid=480720)
LIVE STATS: PacificTigers.com (https://pacifictigers.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary)
SCOUTING THE TIGERS…
Pacific enters the weekend with an 11-23 overall record and a 2-10 mark in the West Coast Conference, having lost its last five straight games… The Tigers dropped a pair of games at Oklahoma and another against Lamar in Norman, Okla., last week, after falling in the finale against conference rival LMU and a midweek loss to UC Davis… Junior Brandon Motheral leads all Tigers offensively with a .308 average to go along with six home runs (second on the team) and 18 RBI… Junior Thomas Gavello has also supplied some pop, slugging seven home runs and driving in 22 — both team bests… The Pacific pitching staff sports a 7.16 ERA and a .283 average against in 293 innings, striking out 248.
AGAINST PACIFIC…
Sacramento State holds a 56-43 lead in the all-time series with Pacific according to records that date back to 1986, but is just 21-25 against the Tigers on the road… Pacific is looking for its second consecutive win in the series after taking the first midweek meeting between the two schools earlier this year at John Smith Field, posting a 5-2 victory over the Hornets back on March 29… Sacramento State has won three of the last five overall, including midweek wins in 2020 (9-2) and 2021 (8-5) at home… Sacramento State is 5-5 in the last 10 meetings with the Tigers… The Hornets have lost their last two trips to Stockton, falling 11-3 and 6-3 back in 2019 in the first two games of a three-game series that was completed at John Smith Field… Sacramento State's last win on Pacific's home field came came back in 2018 in a 9-2 victory on Feb. 27.
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 164-171-1 record against the league since 1986.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Hornets claimed their third consecutive WAC series win — and their first at home this season — taking 2-of-3 from visiting Seattle U to avenge a series loss earlier in the year in the Pacific Northwest. Sacramento State won the opener, 15-5, in eight innings behind a 12-hit attack that featured three doubles, a home run, and an offense that took advantage of 11 walks and three hit batters by Redhawk pitchers. Seattle U took game two by an 8-2 score, but the Hornets answered with a 7-4 win in game three behind home runs from Dawsen Bacho (a pair of three-run home runs) and Josh Rolling (a solo shot, his sixth of the year).
LOOKING AHEAD…
Following Tuesday's game at Pacific, the Hornets return to Western Athletic Conference play in St. George, Utah, with a three-game series at Dixie State on April 22-24. It is the second series of the year between the two programs after the Trailblazers took 2-of-3 from Sacramento State to start conference play back on March 11-13 at John Smith Field.
HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• Senior catcher Dawsen Bacho was named the WAC Hitter of the Week following the Hornets' series against Seattle U after recording hits in all three games agains the Redhawks while batting .538 with a pair of home runs, six runs scored, and seven RBI.
• The honor was the first of Bacho's career and the second by a Hornet this year after teammate Colin Hunter was named the league's pitcher of the week back on Feb. 21.
• Bacho's honor is the first for a Sacramento State offensive player since Matt Smith won the second of his two awards on May 10 of last season.
• Senior Keith Torres put his name atop one of the program's records last weekend, drawing a pair of walks to match Will Fitzpatrick's mark of 135 bases on balls from 1990-93.
• Sophomore Josh Rolling put together one of his best weekends of the year against Seattle U, posting a career-high three hits in the finale while driving in a career-high four runs in the eight-inning run-rule opener.
• Rolling finished the series batting .667 (6-for-9) with a pair of home runs and five RBI, slugging 1.444 in the three games with a .700 on base percentage.
• These Hornets dig the long ball… Nearly half (11) of the team's 24 runs in the series with the Redhawks came via the home run.
• Of the team's 198 runs, 72 (36.4 percent) have scored on home runs this season.
• Bacho and Rolling provided a powerful 1-2 punch for the Hornets against the Redhawks, accounting for nine of the team's 24 runs scored and 12 of the team's RBI — including all seven in the series finale.
• Bacho's six RBI in the finale were a career-high, surpassing his previous best of five at California Baptist on March 29, 2019
• Dylan McPhillips tied his career high with three RBI in series opener against Seattle U, reaching base safely in four of his five plate appearances thanks to a pair of walks to go with his two hits
• Jack Zalasky collected his fourth save of the season in the finale, striking out six over the final three innings of work while allowing only one hit.
• Zalasky tied his save total from all of 2021 in the process while collecting his eight career save to put him one behind Brian Yackovich (1981-82) and Renecke Stelzriede (2003-04) for ninth on the all-time list.
• Zalasky's six strikeouts tied his career high set against Santa Clara back on Feb. 27, 2020, and matched as part of his 3-2 win over then-No. 24 Stanford on March 29 of last season, throwing three innings of relief while allowing just one hit.
• Zalasky's three innings of work marked the 10th time in 14 appearances that the Elk Grove, Calif., native has pitched multiple innings in relief this season and the fourth time he has thrown at least three innings in 2022.
• With the Hornets' 15-5 win in the opener, Sacramento State improved to 9-0 in series openers this season (and 12 straight dating back to last year), outscoring opponents by a 75-30 count in those games.
• Bacho's two home runs in the finale put him among an exclusive club this season, joining Cesar Valero (twice in the final two games against New Mexico State) as the only Hornets to hit two home runs in a game in 2022.
• Bacho's three multi-hit games against Seattle U gave him 48 for his career, moving him ahead of teammates Keith Torres and Steven Moretto (each with 47) for the most among active Hornet hitters.
• Right-hander Eli Saul won his third consecutive start and improved to 5-0 overall on the season with his victory in the opener, tossing his sixth straight "quality start" and his seventh overall of the year.
• Right-hander Kevin Haynes made his team-high 17th appearance in the opener against Seattle U, throwing two innings of relief in the run-rule win.
• Haynes has allowed only four earned runs over the last month (10 appearances), scattering 12 hits and striking out seven with a 3.37 ERA over his last 10.2 innings of work.
