SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State baseball team opens its diamond anniversary 75th season of baseball -- and its 34th Division I campaign -- this weekend at home as the Hornets host North Dakota State in a four-game series at John Smith Field on campus. The Hornets and Bison begin the year with a 4 p.m first pitch on Friday (Feb. 17), followed by a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday (Feb. 18). The two teams close the series with a Sunday (Feb. 19) doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.

PLAY BALL…
WHAT: North Dakota State (31-19, 17-5 Summit League in 2022) at Sacramento State (32-26, 17-14 WAC in 2022)
WHEN: Friday-Sunday, Feb. 17-19, 2023
TIMES: 4 p.m. / 1 p.m. / 1 p.m. (DH)
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field (1,200)
WATCH: ESPN+ (Subscription Required)
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com

ON THE MOUND…
FRIDAY: RHP Noah Takacs (1-3, 7.92 ERA) vs. RHP Cade Feeney (7-3, 4.54 ERA)
SATURDAY: RHP Kevin Haynes (5-0, 4.02 ERA) vs. Max Loven (7-5 6.09 ERA)
SUNDAY (Game 1): LHP Noah Lucchesi (0-7, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Tristen Roehrich (5-2, 3.42 ERA)
SUNDAY (Game 2): RHP Xavier Richards (1st Career Start) vs. RHP Parker Puetz (1st Career Start)

BE A FOLLOWER...
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IN THE RANKINGS...
Neither Sacramento State, nor North Dakota State, are ranked in the top 25 nationally entering the 2023 season... The Bison, however, are among those receiving votes in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll released back on Dec. 20.

THE BUZZ ON THE HORNETS...
Sacramento State is coming off a 2022 season that saw the Hornets finish 32-26 overall and 17-14 in Western Athletic Conference play, ending the year third in the league's West Division and finishing the conference tournament with a 2-2 record. Sacramento State returns 15 letter winners, six position starters, and eight pitchers for the 2023 campaign, while welcoming 20 new faces -- 13 freshmen and seven transfers -- for the upcoming season.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE...
The Bison are coming off a 2022 campaign that saw them claim their first Summit League regular season championship, finishing the year with a 31-19 overall record and a 17-5 mark in conference play... North Dakota State's quest for an NCAA berth, however, fell short after dropping two of its three games in the league championship tournament... Senior infielder Druw Sackett leads the returning crop of hitters after batting .338 with 13 doubles, seven home runs, and 28 RBI a season ago, while senior infielder Peter Brookshaw returns his eight home runs and team-high 46 RBI from 2022... NDSU returns two of its three weekend starters in RHP Cade Feeney and LHP Max Loven, who shared the team lead with seven wins apiece... Feeney was 7-3 with a 4.54 ERA, striking out 62 in 79.1 innings, while Loven was 7-5 with a 6.09 ERA, striking out 57 over 75.1 innings of work.

AGAINST THE SUMMIT...
Entering this weekend's contests, the Hornets are a combined 34-14-1 against the current Summit League baseball alignment, having faced four of the league's seven teams: North Dakota State (6-1-1), Northern Colorado (24-10), Omaha (0-1), and South Dakota State (4-2)... Sacramento State has never faced Oral Roberts or Western Illinois, but will face league newcomer St. Thomas next week (Feb. 24-26) at John Smith Field... Of the 34 all-time meetings with Northern Colorado, 25 of those came as league rivals when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference from 2014-21, including a 2-0 record against the Bears in the WAC Tournament.

LID LIFTERS...
According to available records dating back to 1949, Sacramento State is a combined 32-41 on opening day, but has won each of its last three opening-day contests, defeating UC Santa Barbara (6-1) in 2020, No. 15 Arizona State (4-2) in 2021, and Northern Illinois (11-7) in 2022... Last year's four-game sweep of the Huskies was its first season-opening series win since taking two of three from North Dakota State to start 2019... This year marks the first time since the UC Santa Barbara series in 2020 that Sacramento State will open the year at home and the sixth time in the last seven years that John Smith Field will host the start of the Hornets' season.

HORNETS PICKED FOURTH IN THE WAC...
According to a vote of the league's head coaches released on Feb. 9, Sacramento State was picked to finish in a tie for fourth in the new-look WAC standings, receiving 100 points to match Abilene Christian and UT Rio Grande Valley. Reigning regular season champion Grand Canyon picked up 10 first-place votes and 141 points overall to out-pace Sam Houston, which received three first-place votes and 131 points. California Baptist was third with 115 points.

ZALASKY NAMED PRESEASON ALL-WAC...
Senior right-hander Jack Zalasky was one of 14 players named to the WAC's preseason all-conference team in advance of the 2023 season after finishing 3-4 with a 3.21 ERA and 11 saves on the year -- the latter stat tied for second on the school's single-season list, third in the league, and No. 18 in the NCAA at the end of 2022. Zalasky struck out 53 against only 11 walks over 47.2 innings and held opponents to a .226 average as the Hornets' closer.

D1 BASEBALL ACCOLADES...
Sacramento State receiving some national attention in advance of the 2023 campaign as D1 Baseball highlighted a number of Hornets in its preseason WAC preview. Newcomer Wehiwa Aloy was the site's pick for league Freshman of the Year, while outfielder Cesar Valero, infielder/outfielder Josh Rolling, and infielder Jorge Borjorquez, were among its top 25 prospects for the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft. Aloy and fellow newcomer Xavier Richards were among their top 10 list of impact first-year freshman as well. You can read their entire conference preview at D1Baseball.com (subscription required).

THE SCHEDULE...
The old mantra of, "in order to be the best you have to play the best," rings true for the Hornets in 2023 as they will face six programs that reached last year's NCAA Tournament (Stanford, UCLA, Louisiana Tech, Central Michigan, Grand Canyon, and New Mexico State) and seven schools that finished in the top 100 in the final NCAA RPI rankings (Stanford, Louisiana Tech, UCLA, Grand Canyon, Central Michigan, Nevada, and Tulane).

FEELS LIKE HOME...
The Hornets will enjoy the comforts of home to start 2023 as they will play nine straight -- and 17 of their first 21 -- within the friendly confines of John Smith Field. All told, 32 of the team's 58 games (55 percent) this season will be at home.

CHANGES IN THE WAC...
The Western Athletic Conference baseball landscape looks a little different than it did in 2022. Gone are the West and Southwest Divisions as the league now consists of a single 13-team table for 2023. Gone is Lamar, which returned to the Southland Conference, replaced by UT Arlington. Also gone is Dixie State, but in name only, as they enter the year rebranded as Utah Tech. California Baptist is now eligible for the WAC Tournament, while Utah Tech and Tarleton have two seasons remaining on their transition to the Division I level.

NEW KIDS ON THE BENCH...
The Sacramento State bench will feature a new face and a familiar face in a new position in 2023 as former Grand Canyon pitching mentor Jon Wente joins the Hornets in a similar role while all-time great Matt Smith with serve as a volunteer coach this season. The two take the places of the departed Tyler LaTorre, who is now the head coach at NAIA Westmont College in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Victor Sanchez, who accepted a full-time position as the pitching coach at Queens University in Charlotte, N.C. Also joining the staff is Tyler Wente, the son of Jon, who assumes the role as the program's Director of Baseball Operations.

MILESTONE APPROACHING...
With four victories this year, Sacramento State will claim its 900th Division I victory since making the jump from Division II in 1990. The Hornets have won 30-or-more games in that stretch a total of 15 times and finished with 40-or-more wins three times, including a 41-23 mark in 1991.

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 won 30 games in each of the last 10 full seasons dating back to 2012 -- something no other Division I school has done in that span -- while also winning 40 games twice (2014 and 2019) and claiming the WAC Tournament title and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth three times (2014, 2017, 2019).

CAL-I-FORN-IA WINNING...
It's no dream on such a winter's day for the Hornets, whose 352 wins during their 10-year streak of 30-or-more wins in a season ranks fourth among California schools in that span, trailing only UCLA (402), Stanford (387), and UC Santa Barbara (374).

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS...
When the Hornets and North Dakota State take the field for Friday's season opener, Sacramento State will be putting a significant winning streak on the line. The Hornets have won their last 17 consecutive regular season series openers dating back to a four-game series against WAC rival California Baptist on May 7, 2021, having not lost a series opener since April 30, 2021, against league for Grand Canyon. Sacramento State finished a perfect 14-0 in series openers in 2022, standing as the lone Division I school to have not lost an opener after UConn started 11-0 before falling to Xavier on May 13, 2022.

IT'S IN THEIR BLOOD...
The green and gold runs strong in the veins of these Hornets, who have connections to Sacramento State:
• Carson Blatnick is the third in his family to attend Sacramento State after both his brothers, Connor and Chase, graduated from the University.
• Ryan Christiansen is the son of Head Coach Reggie Christiansen.
• Conor Hourigan's father, Daniel, was a pitcher at Sacramento State in 1982-83.
• Kevin Haynes' sister, Lexi, was a four-year letter winner for the Hornets' rowing team (2015-18).
• Evan Gibbons' mother, Raechelle, graduated from Sacramento State.
• Trey Goodrich's older brother, Trent, was an infielder for the Hornets in 2016-17.
• Jack Zalasky's father, Patrick, was a pitcher for the Hornets in 1992-93, while his grandfather, Vince, played football at Sacramento State in 1962-63.

ABC - ALWAYS BE CLOSIN'...
Zalasky is making his case to go down as one of the top closers in Sacramento State baseball history, already standing fifth on the school's all-time list with his 15 career saves and needing just one more to tie Tanner Dalton (2018-19) and Michael Penbera (1999-01) for fourth. His 68 appearances are also closing in on the top 10, needing just three more to match Mike Frame (1987-89) for 10th on that list.

PUTTING THE "K" IN ZALASKY...
Holding opposing hitters to a .231 average in his career, Zalasky has left a lot of batters wanting in his four seasons with the Hornets, striking out 126 hitters against only 27 walks -- nearly a 5-to-1 ratio -- over his 104.2 innings. Fresh off a 2022 season where he struck out a career-high 53 hitters, Zalasky enters his final season with 10.83 strikeouts per nine innings in his career, which would shatter the current record held by Tanner Dalton (9.83) in 2018-19.

ALLEZ LES QUEBECOIS!...
One of the elder statesmen of the Hornets' roster in 2023, senior Martin Vincelli-Simard returns for a fifth season in the green and gold, chasing a number of top-10 lists in the Sacramento State record book:
• His 11 sacrifice files are tied for eighth on the all-time list, needing one more to match Gabe Jacobo (2006-08) for seventh.
• His 18 home runs are five away from tying James Outman (2016-18), Joe Evans (2000-02), and Derek Brown (1994-95) for 10th.
• His 26 doubles are 14 away from Scotty Burcham (2012-15) for 10th.
• His 91 RBI are 35 shy of Vinny Esposito (2015-18) for 10th.

STAY HOT, MARTIN...
Vincelli-Simard looks to pick up right where he left off in 2022 when he finished with hits in 11 of his final 12 games of the year, including eight multi-hit contests and three, three-hit performances. He hit .412 (21-for-51) in that span with 10 runs scored and 12 RBI, while slugging seven doubles and three home runs.

JUST GO, BOJO...
The only Hornet to start all 58 games a season ago, junior Jorge Bojorquez is coming off his finest full season of his career in the green and gold after hitting .290 with 33 runs, 67 hits, 14 doubles, and six home runs, while driving in 26. It was a fitting follow-up to his injury-shortened 2021 campaign where he hit .330 through the first 27 games of the year with nine extra-base hits and 24 RBI.

HAVE YOU HEARD?...
Sophomore Jeffery Heard's first season in the green and gold was a solid one after the outfielder finished third on the team with 50 hits (trailing only Bojorquez's 67 and Dawsen Bacho's 55), including finishing as one of four Hornets with at least 10 doubles on the year, while tying for fourth with 32 runs scored.

HEY, HEY, HEY, HAYNES...
Sophomore Kevin Haynes was one of the Hornets' most dependable arms out of the bullpen for Sacramento State in 2022 -- and one of its most unbeatable after finishing 5-0 with a pair of saves and a 4.02 ERA while striking out 40 in 47 innings. He allowed one run or fewer in five of his last six appearances -- and 24 of his 30 overall -- while holding opponents to a .251 average on the year.

50 IS NIFTY...
Sacramento State finished with 55 home runs a season ago, marking the third time in the last four full seasons that the Hornets have reached the 50 home run plateau. The 55 home runs in 2022 were the most since they slugged 63 in 2009 -- the latter standing as the fourth-highest total overall since 1979. Sacramento State returns 35 of those 55 long balls from last season in the form of five different players: Cesar Valero (13), Josh Rolling (7), Jorge Bojorquez (6), Martin Vincelli-Simard (5), and Jeffery Heard (4).

THE TREE GROWS STRONGER...
Head Coach Reggie Christiansen has three former members of the Sacramento State staff who are now Division I head coaches: Jake McKinley, who was an assistant with the Hornets from 2010-13), takes over as head coach at Nevada this season; Tommy Nicholson, who served two stints as an assistant in 2011-12 and 2017, is in his second year at Causeway rival UC Davis; and Steve Holm, who was an assistant/associate head coach from 2013-16, is in his fifth year as head coach at Illinois State. In addition, Jake Angier, who was an assistant and associate head coach for the Hornets from 2014-19, is an assistant at Oregon, while former players Trevor Paine and Grant Kukuk are head coach at William Jessup and the pitching coach at Utah Valley, respectively.