SACRAMENTO -- Coming off a Western Athletic Conference series win over Utah Valley, the Sacramento State baseball team breaks from league action for a pair of non-conference midweek battles on back-to-back nights to start off the week. The Hornets make the hour-long drive south to take on Pacific on Monday night (April 10) at 6 p.m., before making the short jaunt across the Causeway to go head-to-head with UC Davis on Tuesday (April 11) at 2:30 p.m.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Sacramento State (16-15 overall) at Pacific (10-19 overall)
WHEN: Monday, April 10, 2023
TIME: 6 p.m. PT
WHERE: Stockton, Calif.
STADIUM: Klein Family Field
WATCH LIVE: WCC Network
LIVE STATS: PacificTigers.com
WHAT: Sacramento State (16-15) at UC Davis (10-17 overall)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 11, 2023
TIME: 2:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
STADIUM: Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCDStats.com
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SCOUTING PACIFIC…
The Tigers enter the week with a 10-19 overall record and a 3-9 mark in West Coast Conference play, having dropped their last two following a series loss to league rival Santa Clara over the weekend… Pacific is 4-9 at home this season, having lost five of its last six at Klein Family Field… Outfielder Ben Nemivant is the team's leading hitter, batting .443 with 12 doubles, 25 RBI, and a 1.083 OPS… The Tigers are batting .285 for the season as a team, but have been outscored 256-144 thus far… The Tigers' pitching staff owns a 7.49 ERA over 29 games, striking out 180 over 244 innings while opponents are batting .316 against them.
SERIES NOTES...
Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Pacific by a 96-80-1 count according to records dating back to the 1950 season, with the results of four games unknown… The Hornets are 45-38 against the Tigers in their Division I history… Pacific leads the series, 43-38, in games played in Stockton… Sacramento State has won four of the last six meetings after splitting a pair of midweek games in 2022: falling at home, 5-2, on March 29, before posting a 13-6 win at Pacific in April 19… The win in Stockton was the first meeting on the Tigers' home field since Feb. 22, 2019, and snapped a two-game skid on the road… The two programs have split the last meetings in Stockton… The 13 runs scored in the last meeting were the most by either team since a 14-7 Pacific win on April 10, 2018, and the most by the Hornets since a 14-6 win on March 11, 2008.
SCOUTING UC DAVIS…
The Aggies enter the week with a 10-17 overall record and a 3-9 mark in Big West Conference play, having lost their last three after being swept on the road at UC San Diego last week… UC Davis is 5-8 at home this season, but hasn't played on its home diamond since a midweek win over Loyola Marymount on March 27… Infielder Alex Gouveia is the team's leading hitter, batting .348 on the year with 15 doubles, a pair of home runs, and 15 RBI… Catcher Jack Gallagher has provided the power, slugging a team-high seven home runs and sharing the team lead with 21 RBI… As a staff, the Aggie pitchers sport a 5.86 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 236.2 innings as opponents are batting .291 against them.
SERIES NOTES…
One of the longest-running series in the history of the program, Sacramento State holds a 142-89-1 lead in the series dating back to 1950, including a 44-35 lead in the program's Division I history… The Hornets are 55-47 on the road against the Aggies, but this will be the first meeting between the two schools in Davis since April 17, 2018… Sacramento State has won the last four meetings — and 15 of 20 overall dating back to 2011 — but the two schools haven't met since an 8-2 Hornet victory at home on March 12, 2019… The Aggies' last win came on April 4, 2017, posting a 7-6 victory in Davis.
A LOOK BACK…
Sacramento State wrapped up a 3-1 week on Saturday (April 8), posting a 10-5 win over Menlo College and taking two out of three from WAC rival Utah Valley at home. The Hornets won the first two games against the Wolverines by identical 7-5 scores, holding off a ninth-inning rally in the opener and breaking a tie in the eighth inning of game two en route to the victory. Utah Valley then won a pitchers duel on Saturday, 3-1.
ON DECK FOR THE HORNETS…
Following the games against Pacific and UC Davis, Sacramento State will return to league play with a three-game series against UT Arlington at John Smith Field beginning Friday (April 14) and running through Sunday (April 16). First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday, and Noon on Sunday.
HORNET QUICK HITS…
• Monday and Tuesday's games mark the seventh and eighth midweek games of the season for the Hornets, who are 5-1 in their previous six midweek contests — including a 4-0 record at home.
• The games open a run that will see the Hornets play five games in the next seven days.
• Sacramento State has won eight of its last 10 midweek contests dating back to last year.
• In addition to the 10-5 win over Menlo College last week, the Hornets have also 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.
• Senior Martin Vincelli-Simard, who has missed the last four games due to injury, continues to lead the team with a .500 average (9-for-18) in six midweek games, slugging a pair of home runs, scoring six runs, and driving in eight more.
• As a team, the Hornets are batting .298 and have outscored opponents, 48-35, in six midweek games, drawing 42 walks (averaging seven per game).
• Junior right-hander Cooper Rons has appeared in five of those six midweek contests, posting a 2-0 record with a 4.15 ERA and 13 strikeouts over 8.2 innings of work, while limiting opponents to a .263 average.
• Junior right-hander Kevin Haynes has also struck out 10 over 9.0 innings in four midweek appearances (two starts).
• Senior right-hander Zach Gagnon (1-1), freshman right-hander Xavier Richards (1-0), and junior left-hander Max Pettey (1-0), have also posted wins in midweek games this year.
• As a staff, Sacramento State holds a 4.99 ERA and a .259 average against in six midweek games, walking only 22 batters against 59 strikeouts.
• As a team, the Hornets have slugged 44 home runs on the year — which are tied for the most in the WAC with California Baptist entering the week — with 18 of those 44 home runs coming in the last six games.
• The Hornets have failed to hit a home run in only nine of their 31 games thus far this season.
• The 44 home runs are just six shy of giving Sacramento State 50 home runs in a season for the third straight year, which would be the longest such run since the 2001 (50), 2002 (60) and 2003 (57) seasons.
• The Hornets hit five home runs in the opener against Utah Valley and four more in game two, marking the eighth and ninth times this year that they have hit multiple home runs in a game.
• Speaking of home runs, freshman Wehiwa Aloy slugged two more home runs last week against Utah Valley, bringing his season total to nine on the year — a total that ranks tied for third in the Western Athletic Conference.
• The nine home runs are the most by a Sacramento State freshman since Rhys Hoskins slugged 10 in 2012 en route to All-America honors.
• Meanwhile, the seven home runs by JP Smith enter the week tied for eighth in the league, making Aloy and Smith the third pair of WAC teammates to rank among the top 10 in the conference along with California Baptist's Mitchel Simon (12) and Dusty Garcia (10), and Abilene Christian's Grayson Tatrow (9) and Logan Britt (8).
• Smith's two home runs in the opener against the Wolverines marked the first time that a Hornet has hit multiple home runs in a game since Dawsen Bacho did so at Grand Canyon on May 6, 2022.
• Aloy and Smith both hit .385 (5-for-13) last week to pace the Hornets' offense, combining for 10 runs scored, five home runs, and 12 RBI.
• Smith drove in seven runs while Aloy scored seven runs, with Smith posting a 1.683 OPS and Aloy close behind with a 1.346 OPS.
• Aloy added a pair of two-hit games against Utah Valley to bring his season total to a team-high 16 multi-hit contests on the year.
• Junior Jorge Bojorquez is finding a groove at the plate over his last two WAC series, batting .364 (8-for-22) — including three multi-hit games and hits in five of his last six contests — with six runs scored and three RBI.
• Smith enters this week's contests riding a six-game hitting streak, batting .500 (11-for-22) with seven runs scored, six extra-base hits (3 doubles & 3 home runs), and 10 RBI, driving in a run in each of those six contests.
• Entering the week, teammates Aloy (.388) and Gunner Gouldsmith (.393) are one of three pairs to stand among the top 10 in the WAC in average along with Sam Houston's Tyler Davis (.475) and Joe Redfield (.416), and Grand Canyon's Jacob Wilson (.465) and Homer Bush, Jr. (.403).
• Meanwhile, Aloy (eight doubles, three triples, nine home runs) leads the WAC with a .727 slugging percentage entering the week.
• Junior right-hander Jasper Nelson had his best start of the season, claiming his second win in his last three starts in the opener against Utah Valley, throwing six shutout innings, retiring eight straight at one point, and stranding six.
• The six innings were a season high, while his eight strikeouts (against only one walk) were a Sacramento State career high, surpassing the seven he had against Central Michigan on March 9.
• Pettey picked up his second win of the season in relief in game two against the Wolverines, retiring the first seven batters he faced and finishing with a career-high six strikeouts.
• Defensively, the Hornets turned three double plays in the series finale against Utah Valley, giving them a WAC-high 29 for the season entering the week and ranking them among the top 20 in the NCAA in both total double plays (No. 12) and double plays per game (No. 16 with 0.94).
• Aloy has had his hand in 25 of those double plays, ranking second in the WAC behind only California Baptist's Jake Skipworth (27).
