ABILENE, Texas -- Josh Rolling and Wehiwa Aloy each finished with three hits, while a couple of newcomers in JP Smith and Jacob Cortez drove in three runs apiece, helping lift the Sacramento State baseball team to an 8-4 victory over host Abilene Christian in a Western Athletic Conference series opener on Friday evening.
The Hornets won for the fourth time in the last six outings, improving to 12-9 overall on the year an evening their record in conference play at 2-2. It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, fell to 16-6 overall and 5-2 in WAC play after entering the weekend tied for second in the league standings.
Junior right-hander Jasper Nelson (1-1) earned the win, striking out five over five innings of work to pick up his first victory in the green and gold. He gave up only four hits over the first four innings before running into a rough patch in the fifth, but left with a one-run lead that was held up by the bullpen.
Junior Max Pettey gave up only one hit and faced two over the minimum while striking out two over two scoreless innings, eventually giving way to closer Jack Zalasky, who nailed down his seventh save of the season with a pair of hitless, scoreless innings, striking out three. Zalasky entered the weekend tied for second in the nation in saves before adding to his total on Friday night.
Rolling and Aloy both tied their career highs with three hits against ACU, with Aloy scoring twice and slugging his fourth home run of the year. Smith and Cortez also tied their career highs with two hits each, while Cortez set a career high with three RBI to go along with his first career home run.
Gunner Gouldsmith also notched his fifth multi-hit game of the season, finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Martin Vincelli-Simard extended his hitting streak to six games thanks to an RBI single in the ninth that gave the Hornets some breathing room.
On a blustery Texas evening, a pair of singles around an out to start the second set the stage for Cortez, who worked the count in his favor before unleashing a blast that cleared the wall in left centerfield, scoring Smith and Rolling ahead of him for a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Aloy slugged a no-doubter to center field for his fourth of the season, staking Sacramento State to the 4-0 lead.
The Hornets added another in the third as Smith's sacrifice fly with runners at the corners plated Jorge Bojorquez for a 5-0 advantage — a lead that held up until the fifth when the Abilene Christian rallied for fourth runs on a pair of home runs to make it a one-run contest.
Both bullpens went zero-for-zero until the ninth when Sacramento State was finally able to pull away. Aloy and Gouldsmith reached on infield singles and both moved into scoring position on a Bojorquez sacrifice. That brought up Vincelli-Simard, who found space on the left side for an RBI single and a 6-4 lead.
An intentional walk loaded the bases before a pop-up got the Wildcats one out closer to escaping the inning, but Smith was able to come through in the clutch, extending the lead with a single through the left side, scoring a pair for the final 8-4 advantage.
Zalasky, who started the eighth inning and retired the side in order, then shut the door in the ninth, working around a one-out throwing error to collect a pair of strikeouts and end the game. The Elk Grove, Calif., native now has seven saves and a win in 10 appearances this season without allowing a run and only one hit in his last nine games.
Game two is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. on Saturday (March 25) with left-hander Noah Lucchesi scheduled to take the mound for the Hornets.
