Box Score LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Sophomore Cesar Valero slugged two home runs for the second straight game and drove in six, while Martin Vincelli-Simard and Dylan McPhillips also left the yard to power a 13-hit Hornet attack as Sacramento State won its second straight Western Athletic Conference series with a 14-6 victory over host New Mexico State in the series finale on Sunday at Presley Askew Field in Las Cruces, N.M.
The win lifted the Hornets to 15-16 overall and 7-8 in league play, taking two out of three from a conference opponent for the second straight weekend. The Aggies fell to 12-17 overall and 4-11 in WAC play with the loss.
After finishing 2-for-3 and driving in four thanks to his two home runs on Saturday in a 10-9 defeat, the Calgary, Alberta, native sparked the Sacramento State offense once again on Sunday, getting the Hornets on the board first with the three-run shot to center field in the first inning and added a second three-run home run in the eighth that allowed his team to pull away late.
The 12 home runs this season are the most since Rhys Hoskins finished with 12 during the 2014 campaign and are two shy of breaking into the school's single-season top 10 list with five former standouts tied for ninth with 14 — the last being Gabe Jacobo in 2007.
Valero also scored three times and drove in six runs — both second only to the five runs scored and school-record 10 RBI during his team's 21-4 win over Houston Baptist on March 4.
Vincelli-Simard's long ball was his second of the season and his first since slugging his first in the series finale at Utah Valley, while McPhillips left the yard for the second time this year and his first since the second game of the Dixie State series on March 12.
Five Hornets finished with two hits on the day, including freshman Jeffery Heard, who won on base five times after finishing 2-for-2 with three walks. Jorge Bojorquez was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, Dawsen Bacho clubbed a double as part of his two-hit day, while Keith Torres tripled and scored twice.
After Valero's blast staked Sacramento State to the early lead, New Mexico State answered with a run in the second to break up the shutout on a Tommy Tabak home run to make it 3-1. It stayed that was until the middle innings when single runs for the Hornets in the fifth and sixth extended their advantage as they threatened to run away with the win.
Torres' triple led to a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bojorquez and Josh Rolling added another run with a single, scoring Vincelli-Simard from second base for the 5-1 advantage.
As both teams have done all weekend, the Aggies rallied in the home half of the sixth with a big inning to tie the game at five apiece thanks to single by Logan Gallina with runners at second and third and a three-run home run by Tabak in the very next at-bat. However, Max Pettey (1-0), who was on in relief of starter Noah Takacs stopped the bleeding with a pop-up and back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
Sacramento State then wasted no time in taking the lead for good in the seventh as back-to-back walks and a fielder's choice put runners at the corners for Bacho, who doubled to score Nick Iwasa with the go-ahead run and make it 6-5. Vincelli-Simard then followed with the big blast, sending the first pitch he was from reliever Frank Dickson IV over the wall in left centerfield for the 9-5 advantage and the Hornets never looked back.
The Aggies clawed a run back in their half of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as Valero's homer in the eighth gave Sacramento State a six-run lead and McPhillips' two-run blast in the ninth capped a run that saw the Hornets score 11 of their 14 runs in the final five innings.
Pettey earned the win, allowing a run on a hit while striking out a pair in sixth before giving way to Kevin Haynes, who picked up his first save of the year by throwing three effective innings, allowing a run on two hits while striking out one. Making his fourth start of the year, Takacs allowed four runs on eight hits over four innings, striking out a career-high eight without a walk in the no decision.
Brendon Rodriguez (0-4) was stuck with the loss, charged with two runs without recording an out thanks to a pair of walks.
After playing their last seven games on the road, Sacramento State returns home for its next four, welcoming Fresno State for the first leg of a home-and-home with the Bulldogs on Tuesday (April 12) at 6 p.m., before hosting WAC rival Seattle U for a three-game series beginning Thursday (April 14) at 6 p.m. at John Smith Field. Game two against the Redhawks is scheduled for Friday (April 15) at 6 p.m., followed by the finale on Saturday (April 16) at Noon.
