SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State baseball team begins its run into the postseason this week in Arizona, heading to Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz., to open play at the 2022 Western Athletic Conference Tournament beginning Wednesday (May 25) and running through Saturday (May 28). As the No. 2 seed out of the West Division, the Hornets kick-off the tournament on Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. against UT Rio Grande Valley, the No. 3 seed out of the Southwest Division.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Sacramento State (30-24) at 2022 WAC Tournament
WHEN: Wednesday-Saturday, May 25-28, 2022
WHERE: Mesa, Ariz.
STADIUM: Hohokam Stadium (10,500)
WATCH: ESPN+ (Subscription Required)
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: WACSports.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE...
Wednesday, May 25
G1: UT Rio Grande Valley vs. Sacramento State, 9 a.m. - Watch | Live Stats
G2: New Mexico State vs. Sam Houston, Noon PT - Watch | Live Stats
G3: Seattle U vs. Lamar, 4 p.m. PT - Watch | Live Stats
G4: Abilene Christian vs. Grand Canyon, 7 p.m. PT - Watch | Live Stats
Thursday, May 26
G5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9 a.m. PT
G6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, Noon PT
G7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m. PT
G8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m. PT
Friday, May 27
G9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5, 9 a.m. PT
G10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 6, Noon PT
G11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 4 p.m. PT
G12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10, 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, May 28
G13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 11, 9 a.m. PT*
G14: Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 12, 1 p.m. PT*
G15: Championship Game, 6 p.m. PT
IN THE RANKINGS...
Sacramento State enters the tournament unranked... The Hornets were ranked as high as No. 20 in the nation by Baseball America on Feb. 28 following a 7-0 start, while also ranking No. 23 in the D1Baseball.com poll, No. 24 by the NCBWA, and No. 25 in the USA Today coaches poll. It marked the first time in the program's Division I history that Sacramento State has appeared in those respective rankings after the Hornets debuted in the national polls for the first time as a Division I program in 2021, coming in at No. 24 in back-to-back weeks in the Collegiate Baseball poll on April 5 and 12.
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!...
For the third straight season, ESPN+ will carry all games of the 2022 WAC Tournament from Arizona. Live Stats will also be available throughout the event. Log on to HornetSports.com to access links to follow along.
PERFECT 10...
No other Division I program in the state of California has been the picture of consistency quite like Sacramento State has over the last 10 years as the Hornets have now won at least 30 games in each of the last 10 full seasons dating back to 2022 -- something no other Division I school has done in that span -- and has also won 40 games twice (2014 and 2019), claiming the WAC Tournament title and NCAA berth in both of those 40-win seasons.
CALIFORNIA WINNING...
With regular season games and conference tournaments still to play up and down the Golden State, Sacramento State's 30 wins this year give the Hornets 350 total victories during their 10-year run, entering the week ranked fourth among California schools in wins during that span behind only UCLA (397), Stanford (377), and UC Santa Barbara (368).
BACK TO THE WAC (TOURNEY)...
Sacramento State returns to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament for the 10th consecutive season (2012-22). The Hornets' streak of 10 straight conference tournament appearances is the longest active streak among WAC programs, followed by New Mexico State with six straight berths (2016-22).
TOURNEY TERRIFIC...
The Hornets enter this year's tournament with a 26-20 overall record at the WAC's postseason event in 12 all-time appearances, standing 12 victories better than the next closest school (New Mexico State has 14). Sacramento State has won at least one game in each of its last 10 trips to the WAC Tournament, having not gone 0-2 since 2007 in Reno, Nev.
SEED PLANTED...
A sweep over Utah Valley clinched the No. 2 seed in this week's WAC Tournament for the Hornets -- the second time in the last three events (the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the pandemic) that Sacramento State has been the second seed and its highest since earning the top seed in 2014.
SERIES NOTES AGAINST THE FIELD...
Sacramento State has faced only one of the Southwest Division qualifiers, posting an 18-7 record against UT Rio Grande Valley, including a 2-1 mark against the Vaqueros in the WAC Tournament in 2019 (1-0) and 2021 (1-1)... The Hornets are 21-20 against Grand Canyon, including a 3-1 mark in tournament play... Sacramento State is 48-41 against New Mexico State, including a 4-3 record in the WAC tournament... The Hornets are 24-17 against Seattle U, including a 2-1 record in the tournament... Sacramento State has never faced Sam Houston, Lamar, or Abilene Christian on the diamond.
THAT'S HOW YOU FINISH...
Sacramento State enters the postseason playing some of it's best baseball, clinching a non-conference series over San Jose State with a 14-4, eight-inning win on Saturday to post its sixth victory in its last seven games and winning for the 15th time in its last 22 contests.
LAST TIME OUT...
Sacramento State wrapped up the regular season with its ninth series victory of the year -- and its seventh in its last eight series to close out the season -- by sandwiching a pair of wins around a game two defeat against Bay Area rival San Jose State last week. The Hornets won the opener, 4-3, in 11 innings and clinched a 14-4 win in eight innings via the run rule in the finale, while the Spartans posted a 12-0, seven-inning shutout, in game two. It was the first series win for Sacramento State over SJSU since 2013 when both were members of the WAC.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS...
Sacramento State's thrilling walk-off win to start the series against San Jose State last week in the Hornets' home finale kept them undefeated in series openers this year at 14-0 (including 10-0 in WAC play), outscoring opponents by a 108-52 count in those contests. That streak grows to 17 straight wins in series openers overall dating back to a four-game series against conference rival California Baptist on May 7 of last year, and last lost a series opener on April 30 against Grand Canyon.
AND THEN THERE WAS ONE...
With that win over San Jose State Sacramento State finished the regular season as the lone Division I school that has not lost a series opener this season. UConn was 11-0 before the Huskies fell at home to Xavier to end their run back on May 13.
OPENING A CAN...
The Hornet offense has been humming to start a weekend series, batting .293 as a team while the pitching staff boasts a 3.21 ERA in those 14 series openers, holding opposing hitters to a .230 combined average and striking out 109 in 126 innings, while burning opposing arms to the tune of a 6.99 ERA. The bullpen has also been stellar, as 10 pitchers have combined to allow just 11 runs in 46.1 innings of work in those games for a 2.14 ERA and a better than 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (47 strikeouts, 14 walks).
HAVE YOU HEARD?...
Jeffery is still hitting. The freshman from San Jose, Calif., wrapped up the regular season against his hometown team with three more hits to extend his career-best hitting streak to eight consecutive games entering this week's tournament. Heard is batting .357 (10-for-28), with six runs scored, five doubles, six walks, and nine RBI, during that stretch, currently holding the longest active hitting streak by a Hornet and tied for the third-longest streak by a Sacramento State hitter this season.
ALLEZ LES QUEBECOIS!...
There "May" (see what we did there?) be no hotter Hornet hitter this month than junior Martin Vincelli-Simard, who closed out the regular season with a .378 average over the team's last 12 games, scoring 10 runs, exploding for 11 extra base hits (.756 slugging percentage), and driving in 10 more, while walking eight times en route to a team-best .464 on-base percentage. Six of his seven multi-hit games have come this month -- all consecutively from May 8-19 -- and he has been held without a hit only three times in that stretch.
BACHO, BACHO MAN...
Not to be outdone, senior Dawsen Bacho is also enjoying himself quite a month of May, posting hits in seven of his last eight games to bump his average 14 points to a team-best .336 entering the tournament. Bacho is batting .382 (13-for-34) in that stretch with eight runs scored, six extra-base hits and five RBI, while also walking five times.
SIX AND OH!...
With his complete game in the opener against Grand Canyon on May 6, Saul improved to 6-0 on the year -- the first Hornet pitcher to open a season with a 6-0 record since Ty Nichols finished with the same record in 2015. With a win in his next start, Saul would become the first Sacramento State hurler to start 7-0 since 1993 when Roland DeLaMaza won seven-in-a-row en route to an 11-2 mark that year.
QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON...
Sophomore right-hander Eli Saul leads the Hornets with seven "quality starts" (six innings, three earned runs or fewer) in 14 starts this season, posting a 5-0 record with a 2.17 ERA in those outings, allowing 11 earned on 33 hits over 45.2 innings, with 38 strikeouts and a .205 (33-for-161) average against.
BETTER CALL SAUL...
Sacramento State is a perfect 14-0 in Saul's starts this season as the sophomore's six victories in those starts rank tied for seventh in the WAC entering the tournament. At 6-0, Saul is one of only two pitchers in the conference (Colin Atkinson of Sam Houston is 4-0 in 11 starts this year) with at least 10 starts to boast an unbeaten record.
NO WORK AND NO PLAY...
Make Jack a dull boy. Junior right-hander Jack Zalasky has been anything but dormant as of late, posting seven saves in his last 10 appearances, striking out 19 against only five walks over his last 16.1 innings of work. In his last four appearances, Zalasky has a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings of relief, allowing just five hits and striking out seven en route to three of those saves.
ALWAYS BE CLOSIN'...
Zalasky's save in game two against Utah Valley on May 14 pushed his season total to 10, ranking him third in the Western Athletic Conference and No. 19 in the NCAA as of May 23. The 10 saves are the most in a single season since Tanner Dalton finished with 10 in 2018, while Zalasky's 14 career saves are fifth all-time behind Dalton and Michael Penbera (1999-01), who each finished with 16 in their careers.
HEY, HEY, HEY, HAYNES...
Sophomore right-hander Kevin Haynes has been one of the most reliable arms out of the bullpen for the Hornets in 2022, entering the tournament with a team-high 28 appearances that also rank third in the WAC. Haynes, who is 5-0 with a pair of saves and a 3.83 ERA in 44.2 innings, has allowed just one run over his last four appearances (7.2 innings) for a 1.17 ERA, scattering four hits and striking out 10 against only two walks. Taking it further, Haynes has allowed just five earned runs in 10 relief appearances over the last month (20.1 innings), going 4-0 with a save while posting a 2.21 ERA and a .155 (11-for-71) average against.
HE'S A GAMER...
No other Hornet has appeared in -- or started in -- more games than senior Steven Moretto, who set the school record in the former in the second game of the Utah Valley series back on May 14, and put his name atop the latter list with his start against the Spartans a week later on May 21. Moretto's 237 appearances and 232 career starts broke Scotty Burcham's career record in both categories after Burcham appeared in 233 games and made 231 starts in the green and gold from 2012-15.
50 IS NIFTY...
Home runs by Dawsen Bacho and Josh Walker last weekend gave the Hornets 54 long balls on the year, surpassing last year's 57-game total and marking the third time in the last four full seasons that Sacramento State has reached the 50 homer plateau. The 54 long balls this year mark the program's highest single-season total since the Hornets slugged 63 in 2009 -- which stands as the fourth-highest total overall since 1979.
BIG INNINGS...
Sacramento State's seven-run fourth inning at San Jose State on May 21 is tied for the Hornets' second-biggest inning of the year, matching the seven-run third inning at Fresno State on May 10 and trailing only the 10-run fourth inning against Houston Baptist on March 4. Sacramento State has scored four or more runs in an inning 20 times in 2022, with six of its last eight such outbursts coming on the road.
TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH...
Last Thursday's 4-3 win over San Jose State took 11 innings to decide a winner -- the third extra-inning game for the Hornets this season and the first at home since a 6-5 10-inning win over UT Rio Grande Valley on May 21 of last year. The win over the Spartans took 4:19 to complete -- the longest for Sacramento State in terms of time since a five-hour, one-minute, 15-inning marathon against New Mexico State at the 2018 WAC Tournament.
WE DEMAND... A SACRIFICE!...
When all you need is a fly ball to score a run, Sacramento State is your team. The Hornets enter this weekend's tournament leading the nation in sacrifice flies with 41, out-pacing UConn by one for the top spot in the NCAA. Senior Steven Moretto continues to hold a share of the NCAA lead with his 11 sacrifice flies, matched by the Huskies' Casey Dana, and is believed to be the most by a player in a single season in the Hornets' Division I history.
SHOW ME SOME GLOVE...
It's by the slimmest of margins, but Sacramento State enters the week a close second in the WAC in the field -- and ranking No. 24 in the nation -- in fielding percentage at .978 on the year while committing the second-fewest errors in the league with 44. The Hornets also rank No. 64 in the nation with 41 double plays turned while standing No. 82 in the NCAA with 0.76 per game.
DON'T RUN ON DYLAN...
Would-be base stealers may want to think twice with McPhillips behind the dish as the senior has thrown out 10 runners trying to steal against him this year -- a total that ranks tied for third in the WAC behind Dixie State's Kaden Hollow (17). The 10 runners extinguished by McPhillips have tied his career high set as a freshman in 2018 and are just one back of Dawsen Bacho's 11 last season -- which were the most by a Sacramento State catcher since Gunner Pollman erased 30 would-be base stealers in 2016.
STRIKE FIRST, STRIKE HARD, NO MERCY SIR!...
Sacramento State is 20-6 when scoring first this season, outscoring opponents by a 160-134 count through the first four innings, compared to a 192-161 deficit through the final five frames. The third inning has been the Hornets' best this season, scoring 54 runs in that frame while holding the opposition to just 25.
SIX WAYS TO VICTORY...
Must be their magic number. The Hornets are 20-4 this season when they score six runs or more, but just 10-20 when they fall under that number.
HE'S NUMBER TWO! HE'S NUMBER TWO!...
And we mean that in a good way. With his team's win at Saint Mary's on April 26, Head Coach Reggie Christiansen picked up win No. 359 at the helm of the Hornets, moving him past Cal Boyes (358 in 17 seasons in 1957 and 1960-75) for the second-most wins in school history behind John Smith and his 882 career victories in 32 seasons (1979-2010) as head coach. Earlier this season, Christiansen won the 450th game of his coaching career in the opener at Long Beach State on Feb. 25, when you include his totals for one season at his alma mater, Menlo College, and four years at South Dakota State.
WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER...
In all, 11 different Hornets have accounted for game-winning RBI this season, after Jorge Bojorquez's game-winner in the finale against Utah Valley, while Cesar Valero leads all Hornets with five on the year. Meanwhile, Dawsen Bacho's two game-winning runs against the Wolverines gave him a team-high four, while Josh Walker became the 12th Hornet to score a winning run.
LIKE A RECORD BABY...
Senior Keith Torres broke one of the program's longest standing records in his final plate appearance on April 19 at Pacific, drawing the 136th walk of his career to break Will Fitzpatrick's mark of 135 set in 1993. It was only Torres' seventh walk of the year after posting 36 free passes in 2021 and a career-high 50 in 2019.
SIX DEGREES OF KEITH TORRES...
Aside from his record-setting night, Torres was a consistent threat at the plate all night against Pacific on April 19, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances thanks to a career-high four hits (three of those of the infield variety), a hit by pitch, and a walk. He is the first Hornet hitter to accomplish that feat since Matt Smith went 4-for-4 with two home runs, two hit by pitches, five runs scored, and four RBI, at Tarleton on March 14, 2021. The unofficial school record is 16 consecutive plate appearances held by Aurelio Jackson, who did it twice in 2001: the first against Stanford on May 2 (three hits, two intentional walks, and a hit by pitch) and, again, on May 5 against UC Riverside (5-for-5 with a walk). Jackson's run of reaching safely in 16 consecutive plate apperances was, at the time, one shy of the NCAA record.
A HISTORIC DAY...
Cesar Valero's 5-for-5 day against Houston Baptist on March 4 was one for the record books. How big of a day?
• His three home runs made him the fifth different Hornet to hit three home runs in a game along with Tim Wheeler (March 8, 2009, vs. Saint Mary's and April 11, 2009, vs. Utah Valley), Gabe Jacobo (April 3, 2008, at Louisiana Tech), Jesse Schmidt (April 18, 2003, at Centenary), and Chris Kinsey (March 16, 2002, at Cal Poly).
• His 10 RBI broke the school record previously held by Josh Payne, who drove in nine against Rhode Island as part of a 31-3 win on March 8, 1997.
• Valero's five hits were one shy of Brandon Marshall's record of six against UC Davis on April 29, 1998, while his five runs scored were one back of Shawn McGuire's mark of six set against Rhode Island in 1997.
• He added a single and a triple to fall just a double short of the cycle on the day.
