SACRAMENTO -- A run of five straight on the road for the Sacramento State baseball team comes to an end in Moraga on Tuesday (April 26) as the Hornets head to Saint Mary's for a 3 p.m. first pitch against the Gaels at Louis Guisto Field.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Sacramento State (20-19) at Saint Mary's (22-18)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 26, 2022
TIME: 3 p.m. PT
WHERE: Moraga, Calif.
STADIUM: Louis Guisto Field (1,500)
WATCH: WCC Network
LIVE STATS: SMCGaels.com
ON THE MOUND...
Saint Mary's: RHP Jackson Hulett (3-2, 3.76 ERA, 17 APP, 5 GS, 40.2 IP, 36 K's, 9 BB, .233 Avg.)
Sacramento State: LHP Max Pettey (2-0, 5.24 ERA, 17 APP, 22.1 IP, 24 K's, 9 BB, .220 Avg.)
SCOUTING THE GAELS…
Saint Mary's enters the week with a 22-18 overall record and a 6-12 mark in the West Coast Conference, but the Gaels have lost six of their last eight after dropping 2-of-3 to conference rival and No. 12-ranked Gonzaga at home last weekend… Saint Mary's is 11-6 at home this season… Sophomore infielder Gavin Napier leads all regulars with a .342 average — one of three players batting better than .300 on the year — to go with eight doubles, a home run, and 18 RBI… Sophomore Chris Santiago leads the team with nine home runs to go with a .289 average and 24 RBI, while junior Christian Almanza has 12 doubles, seven home runs, and a team-high 26 RBI to go with a .323 average… The Saint Mary's pitching staff has been strong, posting a combined 3.93 ERA and a .246 average against, striking out 363 in 347.2 innings.
AGAINST SAINT MARY'S…
Sacramento State holds a 47-40-1 lead in the series with Saint Mary's according to records that date back to 1986… The Hornets are looking to avenge an 8-2 loss to the Gaels earlier this season on March 8 at John Smith Field… Saint Mary's has won the last three straight against Sacramento State… The Hornets are 17-14 when playing on the Gaels home field, winning 10 of 11 beginning in 1986 and taking four of the last five meetings dating back to 2011… Saint Mary's won the last meeting at Louis Guisto Field, 10-1, on March 5, 2019, while Sacramento State's last win in Moraga came on April 3, 2018, by a 4-2 score.
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 165-170-1 record against the league since 1986… The Hornets are 1-3 against the league this season, winning their first with a 13-6 triumph at Pacific last week on April 19 to snap a three-game skid against the WCC.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Hornets outscored host Dixie State by a combined 18-8 total in the first two games to take home their fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference series, defeating the Trailblazers 11-6 in the opener and 7-2 on Saturday en route to taking 2-of-3 over the weekend in St. George, Utah. The wins extended the team's winning streak to four before Sacramento State fell in the finale by a 12-2 score in seven innings.
LOOKING AHEAD…
Following Tuesday's match up at Saint Mary's, Sacramento State returns to the friendly confines of John Smith Field to resume Western Athletic Conference play against California Baptist with a three-game series from April 29-May 1, before a midweek contest against San Francisco on April 3.
BIG PICTURE TIME…
The Hornets enter the week in third place in the WAC West Division standings and are, currently, the No. 2 seed out of the west since California Baptist, which sits in second place with a game-and-a-half lead over Sacramento State, is not eligible for the postseason until the 2023 season… The Hornets hold a one-game lead over Dixie State and a three-game advantage over both Utah Valley and Seattle U… Sacramento State split the six games played between both the Trailblazers and Redhawks this season, while the Hornets took 2-of-3 from the Wolverines in Utah back on April 1-3… Sacramento State and Utah Valley meet three more times this season on May 13-15 at John Smith Field… Grand Canyon holds a four-game lead over the Lancers in the division standings thanks to a 15-3 mark in league play.
HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• At 20-19 overall on the season, the Hornets enter the week above .500 for the first time since they were 11-10 overall following a thrilling walk-off 3-2 win over Grand Canyon on March 25.
• With wins in each of their last four consecutive WAC series, the Hornets have won at least four straight conference series since winning five-in-a-row from the end of 2019 to the first four league series of 2021 (no conference series were played in 2020 after the season was canceled prior to the start of conference play due to the pandemic).
• With its 11-6 win in the opener at Dixie State, Sacramento State remained undefeated in series openers this year at 10-0 and extended its streak in such games to 13 dating back to a four-game series against California Baptist back on May 7 of last year.
• Sacramento State's 7-2 win in game two at Dixie State marked the Hornets' first game two win since edging Long Beach State by a 5-4 score in game two of that series back on Feb. 26 in Southern California — ending a run of seven consecutive losses in game two of a series this season. Sacramento State is 5-7 on Saturday's this year.
• With three games played at Dixie State this past weekend, Steven Moretto has moved to within nine games of Scotty Burcham's school record of 233 appearances set from 2012-15, and 10 starts shy of Burcham's record of 231 in that same span.
• Moretto finished last week hitting .438 with five runs scored, a pair of doubles, a home run, and eight RBI, as the Hornets finished 3-1, including a five RBI game in the opener at Dixie State.
• Moretto's seven RBI in the series against the Trailblazers gave him 139 for his career, moving him into third place on the school's all-time list — just three back of Tim Wheeler (2007-09) in second and 19 behind Matt Smith (2016-21) for the all-time lead.
• Moretto's home run in that opening game against Dixie State was the 30th of his career, moving him into a tie for second on the school's list, just five back of Harvey Hargrove (1995-97) and his record-setting 35 home runs.
• Sophomore Jorge Bojorquez left Bruce Hurst Field in grand fashion in game two of the series against Dixie State, slugging his first collegiate grand slam and the first by a Hornet since Hunter Dorraugh did so against Texas-Rio Grande Valley on May 21 of last season.
• Sacramento State has hit multiple home runs in three of its last four games and has slugged 46 overall — just six shy of last year's 57-game total.
• Entering the week (as of April 25), Sacramento State is tied for fourth in the NCAA with its 29 sacrifice flies — just two off the national lead shared by Nevada and Presbyterian — while Steven Moretto is tied with New Orleans' Anthony Herron, Jr., for the NCAA lead with eight.
• Moretto's eight sac flies are the most by a Hornet since David Del Grande finished with the same number in 2014.
• Sophomore right-hander Noah Takacs picked up his first win of the year in the Hornets' game two victory at Dixie State, carrying a no-hitter into the fifth while striking out seven over five innings of work and holding the Trailblazers to a .111 average during his time on the mound.
• Takacs' seven strikeouts were just one short of his career high set at New Mexico State on April 10.
• Cesar Valero slugged his team-high 13th home run of the year in the opener at Dixie State last Friday, putting him one shy of breaking into the school's single-season list and moving into a six-way tie for ninth alongside Gabe Jacobo (2007), Joe Evans (2001), Dan Elorduy (1998), Derek Brown (1994), and Steve Thobe (1994).
• Valero's 13 home runs are the most by a Hornet since Tim Wheeler slugged 18 — which ranks second all-time — in 2009.
• Bojorquez has reached base safely in each of his last seven games — hitting safely in six of those — with eight walks and eight runs scored.
• Dylan McPhillips became the 10th different Hornet to drive in a game-winning run this season thanks to his eighth-inning sacrifice fly in the opener, while Trevor Doyle drove in his third game-winner thanks to his first home run of the season in the first inning of game two.
• Doyle wrapped up a week that saw him bat .375 (6-for-16) with three runs scored and six of his 12 RBI on the year in the four games, including that home run — his first since March 28, 2021, also against the Trailblazers.
• McPhillips also made his collegiate pitching debut in the finale against Dixie State, walking a batter and collecting his first career strikeout in the seventh. He is the first full-time position player to come in and pitch for the Hornets since Griffin McCormick allowed a hit and a strikeout in one inning of work at California on April 23, 2019.
• Sophomore right-hander Kevin Haynes picked up his second win in as many appearances in the opener against the Trailblazers, retiring eight of the final nine batters he faced while tying his season high with three strikeouts over 2.1 innings of hitless, scoreless, relief.
• Haynes, who earned his first win of the week at Pacific earlier in the week, has allowed just five earned runs over his last 12 appearances, scattering 13 hits and striking out 12 over his last 15 innings, posting a 3.00 ERA and a .265 (13-for-49) average against in that span.
• The win in the opener marked the team's seventh come-from-behind victory of the season after scoring two in the eighth to erase a 6-5 deficit.
