SACRAMENTO -- Continuing a run that will see the Hornets play five games in a seven-day span, the Sacramento State returns to Western Athletic Conference play with a three-game series this weekend, hosting UT Arlington at John Smith Field. The series opens on Friday (April 14) at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. first pitch on Saturday (April 15). Sunday's (April 16) series finale is scheduled for Noon.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: UT Arlington (17-16, 7-5 WAC) at Sacramento State (17-16, 5-7 WAC)
WHEN: Friday-Sunday, April 14-16, 2023
TIMES: 6 p.m. | 2 p.m. | Noon
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+ - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com
COMPLETE WEEKLY RELEASE: Sacramento State Game Notes
ON THE MOUND…
Friday: RHP Jasper Nelson (2-2, 3.38 ERA) vs. RHP Gabe Starks (3-0, 3.10 ERA)
Saturday: LHP Noah Lucchesi (3-3, 4.41 ERA) vs. RHP Connery Peters (1-3, 7.24 ERA)
Sunday: RHP Evan Gibbons (1-4, 11.00 ERA) vs. TBA
BE A FOLLOWER...
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IN THE RANKINGS...
Neither the Hornets, nor the Mavericks, are ranked among the top 25 in the any of the national polls.
SCOUTING UT ARLINGTON...
The Mavericks enter the weekend with a 17-16 overall record and a 7-5 mark in Western Athletic Conference play, standing two games ahead of the Hornets in the standings... UTA has won its last four, sweeping Utah Tech and taking a midweek win over Lamar during that stretch at home... The Mavericks also own a WAC series win over Tarleton, while dropping series to Abilene Christian and SeattleU... UT Arlington is 8-10 on the road this year... Freshman infielder Ryan Black leads all regulars with a .368 average with 32 runs scored, six home runs, and 31 RBI... Junior outfielder Garrison Berkley is the only other regular above .300, batting .343 on the year with 31 runs, 11 doubles, and 23 RBI... As a team, the Mavericks are hitting .283 with 35 home runs... Junior right-hander Gabe Starks is 3-0 on the year with a 3.10 ERA, striking out 46 in 40.2 innings, holding opponents to a .190 average... Junior right-hander Jack Hagan leads the team with a perfect 5-0 record in 11 relief appearances, while senior right-hander Connery Peters has six saves on the year.
SERIES NOTES...
This weekend's series with UT Arlington will be the second-ever meeting between the Mavericks and Hornets after UTA swept the series from Sacramento State back in 2013 at John Smith Field... The Mavericks won the opener that year, 15-7, before ekeing out a pair of one-run wins (3-2 and 6-5) in the final two games of the series.
HORNET QUICK HITS…
• Sacramento State enters the weekend series having won four of its last six, claiming its first WAC series win after taking 2-of-3 from Utah Valley last week.
• The win over Pacific to start the week was the Hornets' fifth in the last seven games against the Tigers, while the loss to UC Davis on Tuesday snapped a five-game winning streak against the Aggies.
• With the results last week, Sacramento State is now 6-2 in midweek games this year, having won nine of its last 11 such contests dating back to last year.
• The Hornets played back-to-back extra-inning games against Pacific and UC Davis for the first time since going 10 innings against New Mexico State and 11 innings against Grand Canyon in the 2019 Western Athletic Conference Tournament on May 25.
• The back-to-back extra-inning games came on back-to-back days for the first time since 2011 when Sacramento State defeated UC Davis, 3-2, in 10 innings on Feb. 21, and fell to Saint Mary's, 2-1, in 11 innings on Feb. 22.
• The Hornets had seven players finish with two-or-more hits in the extra-inning win over Pacific, the most since they had seven in a win over San Jose State on May 21 of last season.
• That septuplet helped Sacramento State rack up 19 hits against the Tigers — the second-highest single-game total of the season behind only the 21 hits at Stephen F. Austin in the first game of a double-header on April 1.
• With the 11 runs scored in the win over Pacific, the Hornets improved to 5-1 this season when scoring 10-or-more runs.
• As a team, the Hornets have hit 45 home runs on the year — ranking second in the Western Athletic Conference behind only California Baptist, which hit two home runs in its win over UC Riverside on Tuesday.
• Of those 45 home runs, 19 of those have come in the last eight games.
• Sacramento State has failed to hit a home run in only 10 of its 33 games.
• The 45 home runs are five shy of giving the Hornets 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.
• Sacramento State has hit multiple home runs in a game nine times this year, including a season-high five home runs five days apart at Stephen F. Austin (April 1) and Utah Valley (April 6).
• Freshman Wehiwa Aloy has slugged a team-high nine home runs, which entered the week ranked tied for third in the WAC.
• The nine home runs rank third in the program's Division I history by a freshman, trailing only Justin Lamb's 11 in 2009 and Rhys Hoskins' 10 in 2012.
• Freshman JP Smith ranks tied for fifth on that list with his seven home runs, matching Martin Vincelli-Simard's total in 2019, Vinny Esposito's seven in 2015, and Chris Kinsey's seven in 2001.
SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUNS AS A FRESHMAN (Division I only)
1. Justin Lamb, 2009 - 11
2. Rhys Hoskins, 2012 - 10
3. Wehiwa Aloy, 2023 - 9
4. Steven Moretto, 2018 - 8
t5. JP Smith, 2023 - 7
t5. Martin Vincelli-Simard, 2019 - 7
t5. Vinny Esposito, 2015 - 7
t5. Chris Kinsey, 2001 - 7
t9. Brandon Hunley, 2014 - 6
t9. Tim Wheeler, 2007 - 6
t9. Bret LeVier, 2002 - 6
• Smith's seven home runs entered the week tied for eighth in the WAC, 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).
• Freshman catcher Jacob Cortez snapped and 0-for-6 streak over his last three games with a pair of three-hit contests against Pacific and UC Davis, notching his second and third games this year with three-or-more hits.
• Cortez was a combined 6-for-10 (.600) with a pair of doubles and three RBI against the Tigers and Aggies, while throwing out a pair of would-be base stealers against UC Davis from behind the plate.
• Cortez has a hit in six games this season, posting multiple hits and driving in at least one run in five of those contests.
• Aloy's two-hit night against Pacific marked his team-high 17th multi-hit game of the season and his 11th in his last 16 contests.
• Carson Blatnick's two-hit performance against UC Davis tied his season high set against Nevada on March 2 at home.
• Jorge Bojorquez extended his hitting streak to four games with his season high-tying three hits against Pacific and UC Davis, batting .412 (7-for-17) with five runs scored, three extra-base hits, and a pair of RBI.
• Garet Crenshaw owns the team's longest active hitting streak at five games, batting .350 (7-for-20) with six RBI and four extra-base hits (two doubles, one triple, one home run).
• Smith's season-best seven-game hitting streak came to an end on Tuesday at UC Davis, but the freshman has still done well to raise his batting average 83 points, hitting .424 (14-for-33) over his last eight, with nine runs scored, 11 RBI, four doubles, four home runs, and his first five walks of the season.
• Junior right-handers Jasper Nelson (6.0IP-5H-0R-0ER-1BB-8K) and Evan Gibbons (6.0-5-2-2-2-3) came through with the third and fourth "quality starts" (six innings pitched, three earned runs allowed or fewer) by a Hornet pitcher this season in games one and three against Utah Valley last weekend.
• The two performances also marked only the fourth and fifth times that a Sacramento State pitcher has thrown at least six innings this season, joining Noah Takacs (7.0 innings vs. St. Thomas), Gibbons (6.0 innings vs. Grand Canyon), and Noah Lucchesi (6.1 innings vs. Stephen F. Austin).
• Sophomore right-hander Tyler Stewart came up big on the mound against Pacific, striking out a career high-tying seven batters as the first reliever out of the bullpen, matching his total against North Dakota State on Feb. 19 earlier this year.
• The seven strikeouts were part of a 15-strikeout effort by the Hornet pitching staff — the most since Sacramento State pitchers finished with the same number at Northern Colorado on April 24, 2021.
• A pair of Hornets made their collegiate debuts on the mound at UC Davis on Tuesday as freshman Benjy Tucker threw two scoreless innings and freshman Jaxon Byrd pitched a shutout fourth, each collecting their first career strikeouts.
• Meanwhile, freshman Conor Hourigan made his first career start against the Aggies, allowing an unearned run on one hit in his lone inning of work.
• Junior right-hander Cooper Rons locked up his first collegiate save with a perfect 10th inning against Pacific, striking out one while getting a pair of ground balls to clinch the victory.
• Rons became the first Hornet pitcher not named Jack Zalasky to record a save since Kevin Haynes did so against Utah Valley on May 15 of last year.
• Freshman right-hander Xavier Richards has been stingy as of late, notching a career-high four strikeouts in three innings of relief against Pacific, while holding opponents to a single run on five hits over his last 5.1 innings of work (four appearances), striking out eight against only three walks.
• Sacramento State's defense has turned 29 double plays this season, entering the week tied atop the WAC leaderboard with California Baptist while ranking No. 15 in the NCAA (as of April 12).
