SACRAMENTO — Three NCAA Tournament teams and seven schools that finished in the top 100 of last year's NCAA RPI highlights the slate for the upcoming 2024 season for the Sacramento State baseball team Head Coach Reggie Christiansen announced Thursday.
This year's 56-game lineup features 28 home contests at John Smith Field — including 12 of the team's first 16 contests — and match-ups against postseason participants Stanford, which advanced to the College World Series, Oregon, which hosted a Super Regional against Oral Roberts, and Santa Clara, which earned a berth in the NCAA Regional at Fayetteville, Ark.
The Cardinal, which ranked No. 16 in the final RPI, also leads that group of seven in the final top 100 rankings along with Oregon (No. 28), USC (No. 53), UC Santa Barbara (No. 55), Western Athletic Conference rival Grand Canyon (No. 72), Santa Clara (No. 77), and California (No. 83).
All told, the Hornets will face opponents from five different conferences, including four each from the Pac-12 and West Coast Conference, as well as a pair from the Mountain West Conference, two from the Big West, and another from the Big Ten.
Standing as the only Division I program in the state of California to win 30-or-more games in each of the last 11 seasons, Sacramento State officially opens the season at home in mid-February, welcoming Loyola Marymount in for a three-game series on Feb. 16-18. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2008, when the two schools split a pair of games in Sacramento.
A mid-week clash with long-time rival Fresno State follows on Feb. 20 before the Hornets hit the road for four games starting with three at UC Santa Barbara (Feb. 23-25) and a single contest at Bay Area rival California (Feb. 27). That leads into Sacramento State's longest homestand of the year, kicking off a run of eight straight at John Smith Field against Pacific on March 1 and a pair against Minnesota — the first meeting between the two schools since 2017 — on the following two days.
The Hornets then play host to Causeway rival UC Davis for the first of three meetings with the Aggies on March 5, followed by the team's Western Athletic Conference opening series against Utah Valley on March 8-10 and a second clash against the Bulldogs on March 12.
Three conference road games at Utah Tech (March 15-17) follow before a pair of mid-week games at home against Nevada and at Pacific on March 19 and 20, respectively. A home series against Abilene Christian (March 22-24) precedes a mid-week at UC Davis (March 26) and another conference series at Grand Canyon (March 28-30), followed by another mid-week pair against San Francisco (April 1) and at Nevada (April 2) to start the month of April.
Sacramento State then plays host to California Baptist (April 5-7) before embarking on its longest stretch of road games with nine straight away from John Smith Field, making trips to Oregon (the first meeting with the Ducks since 2009 on April 9-10), SeattleU (April 12-14), Stanford (April 16), and three games at USC with two against the Trojans (April 19 and 21) and one against Santa Clara (April 20).
The Hornets return to the friendly confines for a series against Tarleton (April 26-28) and a third meeting with UC Davis (April 30) as well as a single game against Nevada (May 7) and a series against Stephen F. Austin (May 10-12) sandwiched around a three-game trip to UT Arlington (May 3-5). Sacramento State then closes out the regular season with another trip to Texas to take on UTRGV on May 17-19.
This year's postseason begins with the WAC Tournament on May 21-24 in Mesa, Ariz., followed by NCAA Regionals at campus sites on May 31-June 3. The Super Regional round runs from June 7-10, leading up to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., on June 14-24.
2024 SACRAMENTO STATE BASEBALL SCHEDULE
Feb. 16-18 vs. Loyola Marymount
Feb. 20 vs. Fresno State
Feb. 23-25 at UC Santa Barbara
Feb. 27 at California
March 1 vs. Pacific
March 2-3 vs. Minnesota
March 5 vs. UC Davis
March 8-10 vs. Utah Valley*
March 12 vs. Fresno State
March 15-17 at Utah Tech*
March 19 vs. Nevada
March 20 at Pacific
March 22-24 vs. Abilene Christian*
March 26 at UC Davis
March 28-30 at Grand Canyon*
April 1 vs. San Francisco
April 2 at Nevada
April 5-7 vs. California Baptist*
April 9-10 at Oregon
April 12-14 at SeattleU*
April 16 at Stanford
April 19 at USC
April 20 vs. Santa Clara (at USC)
April 21 at USC
April 26-28 vs. Tarleton*
April 30 vs. UC Davis
May 3-5 at UT Arlington*
May 7 vs. Nevada
May 10-12 vs. Stephen F. Austin*
May 17-19 at UTRGV*
May 21-24 at WAC Tournament (Hohokam Stadium - Mesa, Ariz.)
May 31-June 3 at NCAA Regionals (Campus Sites)
June 7-10 at NCAA Super Regionals (Campus Sites)
June 14-24 at NCAA College World Series (Omaha, Neb.)
* Western Athletic Conference games
Home games/series in BOLD and played at John Smith Field on campus
Dates and times subject to change… Check HornetSports.com for the latest information.
