SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior right-hander Ian Winterhalder pitched four perfect innings of relief to pick up his first win of the season and junior outfielder Erick Dessens finished with three hits, including his first home run as a Hornet, helping the Sacramento State baseball team to it's first win of the season, 4-1, over visiting Saint Joseph's on Thursday night at John Smith Field.
The Hornets improved to 1-3 overall on the year with the victory in the first-ever meeting with the Hawks in the program's history. Saint Joseph's fell to 1-3 overall with the defeat.
Winterhalder (1-0) entered in relief of starter Chase Sorlie in the third inning and proceeded to retire all 12 batters he faced, striking out a season-high four in the process. True freshman Trevor Wilson entered in the ninth and picked up his first career save, striking out one and stranding a runner to nail down the win.
Sorlie, who struck out two in three-plus innings in his first career start, Winterhalder, Andrew Monson, and Wilson combined to limit the Hawks to just four hits on the night and had a shutout brewing into the eighth before Saint Joseph's finally broke through with an RBI double in the eighth. Combined, Winterhalder and Monson retired 14 consecutive hitters from the third to the eighth as the Hornet bullpen combined to allow only three baserunners over the final seven innings.
Meanwhile, the offense found a groove in the fourth to end the scoreless deadlock as Dessens launched his first home run of the season over the batter's eye in right field for the team's first hit and a 1-0 lead. That was followed by a sacrifice fly from Luis Pimentel-Guerrero in the fifth, another RBI from Dessens in the seventh on a single against the drawn in infield, and a run by Pimentel-Guerrero in the seventh on a wild pitch.
Pimentel-Guerrero finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Jakob Poturnak was one of five Hornets to finish with a walk on the night, drawing a pair.
Starter Duke McCarron (0-1) suffered the loss for Saint Joseph's, allowing a run on two hits over four innings, striking out six while walking a pair.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Friday (Feb. 20) at 6 p.m., as right-hander Ethan Lay is scheduled to take the mound against Hawks' right-hander Christian Coppola.
