ED. NOTE: As of April 6, Saturday's series finale has been moved to 11 a.m. PT due to changes in travel plans for Utah Valley.
SACRAMENTO -- After opening the week with a win over Menlo College on Monday, the Sacramento State baseball team resumes Western Athletic Conference play this week with a three-game series against Utah Valley at John Smith Field. The series begins with a 6 p.m. start on Thursday (April 6), followed by game two on Friday (April 7), also at 6 p.m. The finale is scheduled for Saturday (April 8) at 11 a.m.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Utah Valley (15-12, 3-4 WAC) at Sacramento State (14-14, 3-6 WAC)
WHEN: Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8, 2023
TIMES: 6 p.m. | 6 p.m. | 11 a.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+ - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com
WEEKLY RELEASE: Sacramento State Game Notes
ON THE MOUND…
Thursday: RHP Jasper Nelson (1-2, 4.15 ERA) vs. RHP Jayse Burkett (2-2, 3.51 ERA)
Friday: LHP Noah Lucchesi (3-3, 4.40 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Gerling (5-1, 3.65 ERA)
Saturday: TBA vs. TBA
BE A FOLLOWER...
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IN THE RANKINGS...
Neither the Hornets, nor the Wolverines, are ranked among the top 25 in the any of the national polls.
SCOUTING UTAH VALLEY...
The Wolverines enter the week with a 15-12 overall record and a 3-4 mark in Western Athletic Conference play... Utah Valley has dropped both of its conference series thus far this season, posting wins in the opener at SeattleU on March 17 and the finale against Grand Canyon on April 2, while downing Tarleton in the only game played in that series due to weather... The Wolverines are 8-7 away from home this season... First baseman Patrick Mills leads all regulars with a .344 average, six home runs, and 18 RBI, scoring 21 runs... He is one of three players hitting better than .300 on the year... The Utah Valley staff sports a 6.05 ERA and has struck out 232 in 229 innings... Opponents are hitting .286 against the staff this year.
SERIES NOTES...
Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Utah Valley by a 36-20 count, including a 21-10 record at home... The Hornets have won the last four meetings, sweeping the Wolverines at home on May 13-15 last season, while taking 2-of-3 in Orem, Utah, on April 1-3... Overall, the Hornets have won 10 of 11 since 2019... This will be the second straight year that Sacramento State will host Utah Valley after the two hadn't played in Sacramento since 2018... The Hornets have won six straight against the Wolverines at home.
LOOKING AHEAD…
Following this week's series, the Hornets will take on Pacific (April 10) and UC Davis (April 11) in back-to-back road contests before hosting UT Arlington in a three-game WAC series on April 14-16 at John Smith Field. It will be the final home series before the Hornets embark on their longest stretch of road games this year — nine straight from April 18 to May 2 beginning with a single game at Stanford and road conference series at SeattleU (April 21-23) and New Mexico State (April 28-30).
HORNET QUICK HITS…
• With a record of 14-14 overall, Sacramento State is one game ahead of schedule when you compare it to the 2022 season. The Hornets were 13-15 overall after 28 games before finishing the regular season with 17 wins in the final 26 games to reach 30 wins for the 10th consecutive year.
• Sacramento State improved to 5-1 in midweek games this season with its win over Menlo College on Monday, winning for the eighth time in its last 10 midweek contests dating back to last year.
• The Hornets are looking for their third series win of the season — and their first in Western Athletic Conference play — when they host the Wolverines this week. Sacramento State won its first two series of the season against North Dakota State and St. Thomas.
• Utah Valley pitching coach Grant Kukuk returns to his alma mater for the second straight season. Kukuk was a two-year letter winner for the Hornets from 2015-16, appearing in 33 games as a starter and a reliever while winning seven games and throwing 108 innings. He graduated with a degree in communications in 2016.
• Sacramento State's win over the Oaks was thanks, in large part, to a six-run third inning — the 11th time this year that the Hornets have scored four-or-more runs in a single inning and tied for the second-highest total in a frame this year behind only the eight-run fifth at Stephen F. Austin in the first game of a doubleheader on April 1.
• Eight of the Hornets' 14 wins this season have been of the come-from-behind variety, including Monday's win over Menlo when Sacramento State rallied from down 4-2 to win 10-5.
• Monday's 10 runs against Menlo gave the Hornets double-digit runs in each of their last three games — and the fifth time overall this season — posting its longest such streak since putting up 10, 11, and 11, runs against Northern Colorado (twice) and Kansas from April 24-27, 2021.
• The win improved them to 4-1 when scoring 10-or-more runs this season.
• The 17 runs scored in last week's win over Stephen F. Austin were the most since the Hornets defeated Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) by a 21-4 score on March 4 of last season, while the 21 hits against the Lumberjacks marked the first 20-hit game for the Sacramento State offense since collecting 20 at UC Davis on March 15, 2013, and were the most since the Hornets had 21 hits against Albany on March 31, 2010.
• Sacramento State drew 11 walks off Menlo pitchers on Monday — the second time this season that the Hornets have drawn double-digit walks in a game this year and the second-highest total behind only the 12 against St. Thomas in the second game of a doubleheader on Feb. 25.
• The Hornet offense continued to show-off its power last week, slugging 10 home runs off the bats of eight different players against Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin.
• Of those 10 home runs, five came in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader against Stephen F. Austin — the most in a single game since the Hornets slugged five at SeattleU on April 22, 2017.
• Sacramento State now has 35 home runs as a team, ranking second in the Western Athletic Conference entering the week, while Aloy (tied for fourth with seven) and Vincelli-Simard (tied for eighth with six) are ranked among the top 10 individually entering the week.
• The 35 home runs in 28 games are the most since the 2021 team hit 36 through its first 28 games.
• Junior right-hander Cooper Rons was credited with his third win of the season against Menlo on Monday, tying him with Noah Lucchesi for the team lead. Rons struck out four while allowing only one hit over two scoreless innings — the second-highest strikeout total of the year behind his five at Fresno State on March 15.
• His 25 strikeouts this season lead the team, edging Jasper Nelson and Jack Zalasky's 24 strikeouts for the top spot.
• Junior Gunner Gouldsmith continued his torrid season at the plate last week against Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin, batting .444 (8-for-18) with five runs scored, a home run, and four RBI, while collecting multiple hits in all three games against the Lumberjacks.
• Thanks to that start, Gouldsmith enters the week ranked fourth in the WAC in batting average (.438), ninth in slugging (.630), and third in on-base percentage (.512).
• Gouldsmith is one of six players in the WAC to rank among the top 10 in all three of those categories entering the week along with Grand Canyon's Jacob Wilson (2nd-5th-4th) and Homer Bush, Jr. (3rd-10th-1st), Sam Houston's Joe Redfield (5th-8th-5th), Tarleton's Mason Hammonds (8th-7th-7th), and Abilene Christian's Grayson Tatrow (10th-1st-8th).
• He is one of four WAC players in the top 20 in the nation in batting average, entering this week's series against Utah Valley ranked No. 17 in the NCAA.
• Freshman Wehiwa Aloy continues to punish opposing pitching, collecting multiple hits in eight of his last 11 games and leading the team with 14 multi-hit games this year.
• During his last 11 games, Aloy is batting .467 (21-for-45) with 14 runs scored and 10 RBI, to go with four doubles, a pair of triples, and four home runs.
• Aloy enters the series against Utah Valley ranked seventh in the WAC in average (.389) and third in slugging (.713), while standing just outside the top-10 in on-base percentage (.431).
• He is one of five players in the conference slugging better than .700 on the year entering this week's series with the Wolverines.
• Aloy also leads the team and ranks tied for fourth with his three triples on the year — the most in a single season by a Hornet hitter since Matt Smith legged-out four triples in 2019.
• Sophomore Jeffery Heard enters this week's series with Utah Valley owning the team's longest active hitting streak at six games and has reached base safely in each of his last 15 games — second only to Aloy's 19-game streak to start the year.
• Heard has hit safely in 12 of those 15 games, drawing walks in the other three to keep the streak alive.
• Sophomore left-hander Noah Lucchesi earned his third win of the season -- snapping a personal three-game losing skid in the process -- in the opening game of a doubleheader at Stephen F. Austin, throwing a career-high 6.1 innings and striking out a career-high six in the seven-inning victory.
• The 6.1 innings by Lucchesi marked only the third time this season that a Hornet starter has pitched at least six innings, joining Noah Takacs' 7.0 innings against St. Thomas on Feb. 25, and Evan Gibbons' six innings against Grand Canyon on March 18.
• Lucchesi has allowed three earned runs or fewer in all six of his starts this season, including only three in his first 15.1 innings of the year combined.
• Junior left-hander Max Pettey's career-high five innings of relief in game two of the doubleheader against Stephen F. Austin on Saturday marked the longest outing by a Hornet reliever this season and the longest since Takacs went 5.1 innings against Pacific on March 29 last season.
• Although he suffered his first loss of the year in the series finale at Stephen F. Austin, senior right-hander Jack Zalasky enters the week ranked No. 2 in the nation with seven saves after leading the nation entering last week's contests. He stands just one back of Memphis' Dalton Kendrick.
