SACRAMENTO -- With wins in seven of its last nine games, the Sacramento State baseball team breaks from the Western Athletic Conference race on Tuesday night (May 3), welcoming San Francisco to John Smith Field for a non-conference midweek rematch. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

PLAY BALL…
WHAT: San Francisco (23-24) at Sacramento State (23-20)
WHEN: Tuesday, May 3, 2022
TIME: 6 p.m. PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field (1,200)
WATCH: ESPN+ (Subscription Required)
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com

SCOUTING THE DONS…
San Francisco enters the week with a 23-24 overall record and an 11-10 mark in West Coast Conference play after taking 2-of-3 from league rival BYU at home over the weekend…  The Dons are 1-6 in midweek games since their extra-inning victory over Sacramento State back on March 15 at Benedetti Diamond, posting their lone win over Bay Area rival California, 14-11, on the road on April 19… USF is just 7-12 away from home this year while winning 16 of its 23 games at home… Sophomore infielder Luke Keaschall leads the offense with a .335 average to go with seven home runs and 30 RBI, while scoring 46 runs on the year… As a team, the Dons are batting .250 in 47 games, while the pitching staff has combined for a 6.06 ERA and 395 strikeouts in 429.1 innings, with opponents hitting .284 against them.

AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO…
Sacramento State is a combined 36-41 against San Francisco according to series records that date back to 1986… The two teams have split the last six meetings after the Dons posted a 6-5 victory over the Hornets in 11 innings back on March 15 in San Francisco… Sacramento State won 3-of-4 from San Francisco in 2021, taking the first two games by a single run before winning the finale 4-0… The Hornets are 18-20 at home against the Dons, but USF has won seven of the last 10 games played in Sacramento.

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 166-170-1 record against the league since 1986… The Hornets are 2-3 against the league this season, winning their first with a 13-6 triumph at Pacific on April 19 to snap a three-game skid against the WCC and adding an 8-6 win at Saint Mary's on April 26.

LAST TIME OUT…
Sacramento State's run of series wins in Western Athletic Conference play moved to five on Sunday after rallying twice to take 2-of-3 from California Baptist at home. The Hornets came back from a 1-0 deficit in a pitcher's duel on Friday to win 2-1, before bouncing back from a 6-2 loss on Saturday for another come-from-behind win on Sunday by the score of 7-4.

LOOKING AHEAD…
Following Tuesday night's clash with San Francisco, Sacramento State heads to Arizona for a three-game series against WAC West Division-leading Grand Canyon in Phoenix on May 6-8. It will be the second meeting of the season between the Hornets and the 'Lopes after GCU took 2-of-3 from Sacramento State at John Smith Field back on March 25-27.

HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• After opening the season 0-6 in midweek games, the Hornets have won their last two — both against West Coast Conference teams — with victories on the road at Pacific (April 19) and Saint Mary's (April 26).
• Sacramento State hasn't won a midweek game at home — losing its last three — since March 29, 2021, when the Hornets upset then No. 24-ranked Stanford, 3-2, in walk-off fashion thanks to a Matt Smith RBI single to score Keith Torres with the winning run.
• Senior Steven Moretto because only the 14th player in the history of the program to reach 200 hits for a career with a ninth-inning single against California Baptist on April 30 and added a pair of hits in Sunday's finale to up his total to 202.
• Dawsen Bacho is seven hits shy of reaching the 200 career hit milestone, while Keith Torres is 15 back of the mark.
• After driving in three thanks to those two doubles, Moretto moved into a tie for second on the school's all-time RBI list along with Tim Wheeler (2007-09) and stands 16 RBI shy of Matt Smith's record of 158 set last season, while also moving into a tie for sixth on the career runs scored list with 128, just 14 shy of Smith's mark (142).
• Aside from making his team-high 21st and 22nd appearances of the season in games one and three against California Baptist, Kevin Haynes picked up wins in each of those games, finishing the week having allowed a run on two hits and striking out seven over 5.2 innings of work when you include his appearance at Saint Mary's on April 26.
• Haynes has now earned the win in four of his last five appearances when you include victories at Pacific (April 19) and Dixie State (April 22), allowing two runs on three hits over his last 10 innings, striking out 12 against only two walks and posting a 1.80 ERA in that span.
• Haynes' five strikeouts in the finale against the Lancers were a career high, while the 69 pitches thrown were a season high.
• Junior right-hander Jack Zalasky also had himself quite a week, finishing with the save in all three of the Hornets' victories, allowing just one hit and striking out four over 4.1 innings of work to push his total to seven saves on the year.
• Zalasky's seven saves are the most in a single season since Tanner Dalton, who ranks tied for third on the school's career list with 16 saves, finished with 10 in 2018.
• Zalasky's 11 career saves rank seventh on the school's career list, passing Jeff Roth (2008-09) and Billy Sinacori (2004-07) and standing one back of Tyler Beardsley (2015-16) and Trevor Rodgers (1990-91) for a tie for fifth.
• A patient Hornet offense worked 10 walks — three of those issued to Martin Vincelli-Simard — off California Baptist pitchers in the finale on Sunday, marking the fourth time that Sacramento State has drawn 10-or-more free passes and the most since the Hornets drew 11 against Seattle U on April 15.
• Vincelli-Simard's three walks in that game matched the most by a Hornet hitter this year: Cesar Valero drew three against Grand Canyon on March 25 and Jeffery Heard had three at New Mexico State on April 10.
• The long ball abandoned the Sacramento State bats this past weekend against California Baptist as the Hornets failed to hit a home run in a series for the first time this year and the first time since a four-game set against Grand Canyon last season at home on April 30-May 2.
• Sacramento State rallied for both of its victories against California Baptist, posting its ninth and 10th come-from-behind wins of the season.
• Freshman Jeffery Heard's two hits in game two against the Lancers gave him 12 multi-hit games on the season, ranking him third behind teammates Cesar Valero and Jorge Bojorquez, who are tied for the team lead with 13 apiece.