SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State baseball team's longest road trip of the season to date continues this week as the Hornets continue their Spring Break trip with a mid-week game at Louisiana Tech on Tuesday (March 28) at 4 p.m., before jumping back into Western Athletic Conference play with a three-game series at Stephen F. Austin on March 30 - April 1 in Nacogdoches, Texas.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Sacramento State (12-11, 2-4 WAC) at Louisiana Tech (12-12 overall)
WHEN: Tuesday, March 28, 2023
TIME: 4 p.m. PT
WHERE: Ruston, La.
STADIUM: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park
WATCH LIVE: CUSA.tv
LIVE STATS: LaTechSports.com
GAME NOTES: Complete Weekly Release
WHAT: Sacramento State (12-11, 2-4 WAC) at Stephen F. Austin (11-12, 5-4 WAC)
WHEN: Thursday-Saturday, March 30-April 1, 2023
TIME: 4:30 p.m. | 4:30 p.m. | Noon (All Times Pacific)
WHERE: Nacogdoches, Texas
STADIUM: Jaycees Field
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+ - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
LIVE STATS: SFAJacks.com
BE A FOLLOWER...
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IN THE RANKINGS...
Neither the Hornets, the Bulldogs, nor the Lumberjacks, are ranked among the top 25 in the any of the national polls.
SCOUTING LOUISIANA TECH...
The Bulldogs enter the week with a 12-12 overall record after taking 2-of-3 from Conference USA rival Western Kentucky over the weekend... Nine of Louisiana Tech's 12 victories have come at home this season as it is 9-6 at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park... The Bulldogs are 2-3 in midweek games this season, last falling to Louisiana Monroe on March 21 by a 10-6 score... Junior outfielder Adarius Myers is the team's leading hitter at .301 on the season, while senior Philip Matulia provides the pop with eight home runs and 20 RBI for the year... As a staff, the Bulldogs sport a 5.74 ERA and a .298 average against.
SERIES NOTES...
Louisiana Tech leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 17-14 count, with all 31 meetings coming a former WAC rivals from 2006-13... In the last meeting between the two, the Hornets took 2-of-3 from the Bulldogs in a league series on April 26-28, 2013, at home... This week marks the first meeting in Ruston, La., since Sacramento State posted an 11-6 win on April 8, 2012, in the finale of a three-game series, taking 2-of-3 that weekend... The Hornets are 7-6 all time on the road against Louisiana Tech.
SCOUTING STEPHEN F. AUSTIN...
The Lumberjacks enter the weekend with an 11-12 overall record and a 5-4 mark in WAC play, winning their last five after taking the final two games of the series against California Baptist and sweeping Utah Tech last weekend... SFA is 3-6 at home this year... Senior Clayton Loranger leads a group of four Lumberjacks hitting better than .300 this season, batting .386 with 22 runs scored and 13 RBI... Junior Alex Rodgers leads the team with six home runs and shares the team lead with 22 RBI... As a staff, SFA sports a 6.81 ERA and a .297 average against.
SERIES NOTES...
Much like last weekend against Abilene Christian, this weekend marks the first-ever meeting on the diamond with Stephen F. Austin.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS...
The 2023 schedule for the Hornets has undergone a few more changes as we head toward April. Sacramento State has added a game against Menlo College on Monday (April 3) at 6 p.m. at John Smith Field to make up for a cancelation later in the year. The Hornets, scheduled to face Saint Mary's on May 10, have had to cancel that game due to a scheduling conflict.
HORNET QUICK HITS…
• Sacramento State enters this week's games after dropping 2-of-3 at Western Athletic Conference rival Abilene Christian last weekend, winning the opener by the score of 8-4 before falling via the run-rule in each of the last two contests.
• This week's games at Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin close out a seven-game Spring Break road swing for the Hornets -- its longest stretch of consecutive road games thus far this season and its second-longest of the year overall behind a run of nine consecutive road contests from April 18 to May 2.
• This after Sacramento State played 16 of its first 20 games of the 2023 season within the friendly confines of John Smith Field.
• Tuesday at Louisiana Tech marks the Hornets' fifth midweek game of the season with Sacramento State looking to improve on its perfect 4-0 mark in those contests in 2023.
• The Hornets have posted midweek wins over Nevada (9-4) on March 2, UC Davis (9-6) on March 7, Fresno State (9-0) on March 15, and San Jose State (7-6) on March 22.
• Sacramento State is hitting .328 as a team in midweek games to the opponents' .218, outscoring the opposition by a 34-16 count. The pitching staff, meanwhile, sports a 3.50 ERA in those four midweek contests, striking out 44 in 36 innings, while torching opposing arms to the tune of a 7.91 ERA.
• The Hornets have won seven of their last eight midweek clashes dating back to the end of last year.
• Senior Martin Vincelli-Simard has thrived in midweek contests, batting .533 with six runs, a pair of home runs, and eight RBI, while six regulars are also batting better than .300 in midweek games: Cesar Valero (.417), Gunner Gouldsmith (.385), Wehiwa Aloy (.333), Jeffery Heard (.300), and Garet Crenshaw (.300).
• Freshman Wehiwa Aloy is the Hornets' leading hitter through two weekends of WAC play, hitting .520 (13-for-25) against conference foes with an 1.378 OPS.
• That performance was helped greatly by his series against Abilene Christian last weekend where he finished 8-for-12 with three multi-hit games -- including a career high-tying three hits in the opener and the finale against the Wildcats -- four runs scored, and an RBI, slugging 1.250 on the weekend.
• Aloy now has multiple hits in five of his last six games dating back to the first game of a doubleheader against Grand Canyon and a team-high 11 multi-hit games overall this year.
• This year's Sacramento State lineup digs the long ball. With two home runs in the series opening win over Abilene Christian, the Hornets extended their streak to seven consecutive games with a long ball before having their run snapped in game two.
• Sacramento State has hit a home run in 17 of its 23 games this season, while the seven straight games with a home run is the longest since the 2021 team went eight straight games with a long ball from March 12-21.
• The Hornets also have a run of six straight games with a home run from Feb. 25 - March 5.
• Thanks to Jacob Cortez's first career home run in the opener at ACU, 10 different players have now cleared the fence for Sacramento State, led by Vincelli-Simard's five.
• This year's 25 home runs in 23 games are the most since the 2021 squad had 29 through the first 23 games of that campaign.
• Of Sacramento State's 198 hits this season, 37 percent of those (73) have gone for extra bases.
• The Hornets have collected at least one extra base hit in 22 of their 23 games, including a season-high four doubles against Central Michigan (March 9) and Fresno State (March 15) as well as a season-high three home runs against Nevada (March 2) and in back-to-back games against Grand Canyon (March 17-18).
• Have you Heard? Jeffery Heard has been on base a lot, reaching base safely in each of his last 11 games -- tied for the second-longest streak by a Hornet this season and trailing only Aloy's 19-game streak to start the year.
• Heard has hit safely in eight of those games and drawn a walk in the three remaining games to keep the streak alive. As a result, Heard has raised his average 85 points, batting .300 (10-for-30) in that stretch with eight runs scored, five walks, and four hit by pitches.
• Cortez's first career home run in the opener against the Wildcats gave the Hornets a lead they would not relinquish, making him the seventh different player to tally a game-winning RBI this season.
• Josh Rolling was also the first man across on that home run, making him the ninth different player to account for a game-winning run this year.
• Freshman JP Smith has found a groove over his last two weeks at the plate, batting .350 (7-for-20) with four runs scored, two home runs, and nine RBI over his last six games.
• Over half (14) of Vincelli-Simard's team-high 23 RBI have come in the last eight games, driving in at least two runs in five of those contests. He is batting .357 with runners in scoring position thanks to a team-high 10 hits and leads the team with eight multi-RBI contests.
• Making up for lost time, junior Gunner Gouldsmith continues to be one of the Hornets' hottest hitters, collecting a hit in 14 of his 17 games while batting a team-best .436 (including as high as .500 as recent as March 18).
• With six fewer games under his belt thus far this year due to injury, Gouldsmith leads the team in average, slugging (.636), and on-base percentage (.508), while standing fourth in runs scored (16) and tied for second in hits (24).
• Senior closer Jack Zalasky is all about results. The Elk Grove, Calif., native has made 10 appearances this season and posted a win or a save in eight of those. He picked up his first win of the year in game two against Grand Canyon with 1.1 innings of scoreless, hitless relief on March 18, and earned two saves last week against San Jose State and in the opener at Abilene Christian.
• Zalasky's seven saves lead the Western Athletic Conference and are tied for the most in the nation with Dalton Kendrick of Memphis as of March 27.
• Overall, Zalasky sports a miniscule 0.68 ERA over 13.1 innings, striking out a team-high 20 against only four walks and holding opponents to an .045 average (two hits overall).
• Zalasky hasn't allowed a run since the season opener against North Dakota State on Feb. 18, and has allowed only one hit and two walks since then.
• Junior left-hander Max Pettey picked up his first win of the season -- and his first since May 27 of last season at the WAC Tournament against UT Rio Grande Valley -- against San Jose State on March 22, pitching a perfect 1.2 innings while striking out a season-high three.
• Aside from a disappointing outing against Central Michigan on March 11, Pettey has been stellar, allowing just one run in his other 10 outings (14.0 innings) for a 0.64 ERA and 13 strikeouts.
• Junior catcher Carson Blatnick has thrown out six runners attempting to steal this season, ranking tied for third in the WAC, two off the lead of California Baptist's Michael Carpentier and New Mexico State's Nick Gore.
• After ranking second in the nation with 43 sacrifice flies a season ago -- including Steven Moretto, who had 12 overall to share the national lead with UConn's Casey Dana -- the Hornets are up to their old tricks again, ranking No. 13 in the country with their WAC-best 16 sac flies as of March 27.
• A grand slam is rare. Two in the same game? Now we're reaching for the record books. When JP Smith and Vincelli-Simard each slugged grand slams against Grand Canyon in game two of the series, it marked the first time that Sacramento State has accomplished that feat since March 30, 2014, when Brandon Hunley and Will Soto did so at New Mexico State in a 20-6 win.
