STOCKTON, Calif. -- After Pacific rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, the Sacramento State baseball team found a little something extra in extra innings on Monday night, scoring three times on five straight one-out hits in the 10th inning en route to an 11-8 victory at Klein Family Field.
It was the second extra-inning affair for the Hornets this season as they improved to 17-15 overall and 1-1 in extras after suffering a loss to Central Michigan on March 9. It was also the team's sixth midweek winin seven tries in 2023, while posting their fifth win in the last seven meetings in the series.
With the defeat, the Tigers fell to 10-20 overall.
After tying the game at five on a two-run single by Jacob Cortez, the Hornets wasted little time untying the contest in the sixth as Wehiwa Aloy singled and moved to third on JP Smith's one-out double. That brought Cesar Valero to the plate and the junior unloaded for his fifth home run of the season and an 8-5 advantage.
Sacramento State started to cruise from there as Xavier Richards struck out the side in the sixth, worked around a lead-off double in the seventh, and retired the side in order in the eighth.
However, it was the ninth that was almost the Hornets' undoing as the Tigers rallied to tie the game with three in their final at-bats against closer Jack Zalasky (2-1). A two-run one-out single by Jacob Weiss got Pacific to within a run and Tony Otis' blooper into centerfield scored the tying run. With two in scoring position, Zalasky ended the inning with a strikeout, catching Jack Metcho looking to send it to the 10th.
There, Sacramento State made quick work offensively as Jorge Bojorquez singled with one out and moved to second on Smith's single through the right side. Valero, who finished with a team-high four RBI on the night, followed with a run-scoring single through the right side, while Garet Crenshaw and Jeffery Heard added RBI singles in the next two at bats to rebuild the Hornets' advantage to 11-8.
Once again down to their final at bats, the Tigers were quickly dispatched by right-hander Cooper Rons, who collected his first save of the year by sandwiching a strikeout between two ground balls to end the game.
Kevin Haynes started and went the first two innings before giving way to Tyler Stewart in the third, who went three innings and struck out a career-high seven. Richards followed with his three scoreless innings, striking out four on the night.
Both teams opened with three runs in the first two innings as Smith and Crenshaw got the Hornets on the board with RBI singles in the first, and Josh Rolling added an RBI double in the second for a brief, 3-2, advantage.
After Pacific tied it with a run of its own in the third, the Tigers took their first lead of the night on a two-run single in the fourth by Jeremy Lea, setting the stage for Monday's see-saw finish.
Seven different Sacramento State hitters finished with multiple hits on the night, including three-hit performances by Cortez, Bojorquez, Smith, and Valero. Bojorquez and Valero also scored three times on the night while Smith extended his hitting streak to seven consecutive games, driving in at least one run in all seven of those contests.
The Hornets quickly return to the field on Tuesday (April 11) at 2:30 p.m., traveling across the Causeway to take on UC Davis for the second meeting of the year between the two schools. The game will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform.
