ED. NOTE: This game has been rescheduled for Thursday (March 2) at Noon at John Smith Field.
SACRAMENTO -- With its schedule battered and bruised by Mother Nature over the last week, the Sacramento State baseball team looks to finally get back on the diamond on Wednesday (March 1), welcoming Nevada to John Smith Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Nevada (3-4) at Sacramento State (5-1)
WHEN: Wednesday, March 1, 2023
TIME: 4 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
WATCH: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com
ON THE MOUND...
Nevada: RHP Peyton Stumbo (0-0, 2.70 ERA)
Sacramento State: RHP Kevin Haynes (0-0, 13.50 ERA)
SCOUTING THE WOLF PACK…
Experiencing similar frustrations with the weather, Nevada enters the week with a 3-4 overall record after taking two of three at home against California Baptist last weekend… Sacramento State will be the Wolf Pack's third Western Athletic Conference opponent in the seasons first three weeks after opening at Abilene Christian prior to its series against the Lancers… Outfielder Harry Strmecki leads Nevada with a .385 average through the first seven games of the year, slugging a pair of home runs and driving in three, sharing the team hits lead along with teammate Nolan Wilson (.357)… The Wolf Pack have slugged 10 home runs — led by three from Derek Tenney — to account for more than half of their 18 extra-base hits this year... Wednesday's projected starter, junior right-hander Peyton Stumbo, has made two appearances in relief, posting a 2.70 ERA over 3.1 innings of work, allowing a run on a hit and striking out five against three walks.
AGAINST NEVADA…
According to available records that date back to the 1954 season, Nevada leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 96-81-1 count, including a 57-30 lead in the series in the Hornets' Division I history… Sacramento State leads the series by a 54-42-1 at John Smith Field… The Wolf Pack have won four of the least five following a three-game winning streak by the Hornets, including a 20-5 result in Reno last season… Sacramento State's last win in the series came at home in 2019, posting a 4-3 victory on May 7.
CONFERENCE CALL…
Sacramento State is a combined 186-328-4 against the current Mountain West Conference alignment, with the majority of games coming against Fresno State (38-136-1), Nevada (81-96-1), and San Jose State (47-70-2)… The 81 wins over the Wolf Pack are the most against any one Mountain West opponent in the program's recorded history… The Hornets were 3-3 against the league last season, taking two of three from San Jose State to close out the regular season, splitting a pair of midweek contests with Fresno State, and falling at Nevada… Sacramento State is 5-5 in its last 10 against the Mountain West.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Hornets split a four-game game series with visiting St. Thomas last weekend, sweeping a doubleheader from the Tommies on Saturday (Feb. 25) in between a pair of wins by Mother Nature, who washed out the first and final games of the series… Sacramento State won the opener 2-0 and ran away with the nightcap by a 10-1 score behind a pair of stellar outings on the mound by junior right-hander Noah Takacs (7.0-1-0-0-2-7) and sophomore left-hander Noah Lucchesi (5.2-4-1-1-0-2)… Freshman infielder Wehiwa Aloy finished 5-for-8 with four runs scored, a pair of home runs, and five RBI to lead the Hornets at the plate.
LOOKING AHEAD…
Including Wednesday's scheduled game against Nevada, the Hornets will run a gauntlet that will test their endurance and depth in the early stages of the 2023 season, playing a marathon total of 12 games in 11 days. Following the clash with the Wolf Pack, Sacramento State heads to Los Angeles to face USC (March 3), nationally ranked UCLA (March 4), and Tulane (March 5) at the SoCal Baseball Classic, before coming home to face UC Davis in a home-and-home series (March 6-7). A game at home against San Francisco (March 8) follows before welcoming Central Michigan to John Smith Field for four games (March 9-11).
HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• Wednesday against Nevada will be the first midweek game of the year for Sacramento State.
• The Hornets won three of their final four midweek games to close out 2022 and were 3-7 overall in midweek games a year ago.
• Haynes will be making his second start of the year against the Wolf Pack and his first since going only two innings and giving up three runs on two hits while striking out a pair in game two of the series against North Dakota State.
• Last season, Haynes appeared in 30 games (2 starts), finishing with an unblemished 5-0 record and 4.02 ERA over 47 innings.
• Freshman Wehiwa Aloy is off to a tremendous start in his first collegiate season, collecting hits in each of the first six games of his career, batting .435 with a .913 slugging percentage and a .462 on-base percentage.
• Aloy's six-game hitting streak is the longest active streak by a Hornet this season, while Aloy and Cesar Valero have each reached base safely in each of the first six games.
• Six of Aloy's team-high 10 hits have gone for extra bases, adding three doubles and a triple to his first two career home runs against St. Thomas last week.
• Aloy finished a single short of the cycle in the second game of the doubleheader against the Tommies, adding a walk to his three hits in five plate appearances.
• After going 0-7 with a 6.75 ERA a season ago, sophomore left-hander Noah Lucchesi has been downright stingy in winning his first two starts of 2023, allowing just two runs on nine hits without walking a batter over 10.2 innings.
• Equally stingy has been junior right-hander Noah Takacs, who has limited opponents to just one run on three hits over 12 innings, posting a 0.75 ERA and a .079 average against en route to a 2-0 start.
• Takacs has struck out 14 hitters in his 12 innings, falling just one "K" shy of his career high with seven strikeouts in each of his first two starts this year.
• Takacs is third in the WAC in ERA and batting average against, while ranking tied for seventh in strikeouts.
• Takacs' seven-inning effort in the opener against St. Thomas was the first quality start by a Sacramento State pitcher this season (7.0 IP, 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts).
• Senior closer Jack Zalasky, who was named to the NCBWA's Stopper of the Year watch list earlier this month, has allowed one run on one hit over three innings, striking out five while picking up three saves.
• Zalasky is one of six players to lead the NCAA in saves entering the week.
• The Hornets' pitching staff ranks in the top 20 in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings (No. 18 - 6.50) and No. 17 in WHIP (1.09), while holding opposing hitters to a .205 average.
• Individually, Takacs ranks No. 15 in fewest hits allowed per nine (2.25) and No. 7 in WHIP (0.42), while Lucchesi is tied for the top spot in strikeout-to-walk ratio and walks allowed per nine innings.
• Nine Sacramento State hitters combined to draw 12 walks in the nightcap against St. Thomas — the most since it had 12 against Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) on March 4 last season — with three of those coming via freshman Zack Malone. The last Hornet to finish with three walks in a game was Jeffery Heard, who did so against San Jose State on May 19 last year.
• Junior Jorge Bojorquez has scored at least one run in five of the team's six games this season, leading the team with nine and ranking tied for eighth among WAC hitters entering the week.
• Bojorquez has hits in five of the team's six games, including three hits in the finale against North Dakota State on Feb. 19.
• Malone became the latest Hornet newcomer to collect his first career hit, reaching on a single in the finale of the doubleheader against St. Thomas, as did JP Smith, who knocked a single in the opener against the Tommies.
