SACRAMENTO -- Six different players finished with hits on the night and the Sacramento State baseball team took advantage of three errors to score six runs in the decisive third inning as the Hornets opened their homestand with a 10-5 victory over Menlo College on Monday night at John Smith Field.
The win evens Sacramento State's record at 14-14 overall heading into this weekend's three-game Western Athletic Conference home series against Utah Valley that begins on Thursday (April 6) at 6 p.m. The loss dropped the Oaks to 7-26 overall despite the visiting side holding a 10-6 advantage in the hit column.
After stranding the bases loaded in the top of the first, the Hornets were the first to get on the board with a pair in the home half, doing so without the benefit of a hit. Griffin Harrison, Wehiwa Aloy, and JP Smith all drew walks against Menlo starter Sean Moran (0-1), loading the bases for back-to-back sacrifice flies by Josh Rolling and Sam Gilliam for the 2-0 lead.
The Oaks halved the deficit with a run in the second on a squeeze by Zach Dyer, and plated three more in the third with the help of a couple of Hornet miscues in the field, taking a 4-2 lead.
That's when the floodgates opened for Sacramento State, which took advantage of three Menlo errors in the frame to bust the game open. The Hornets sent 12 batters to the plate in the frame, scoring six times — most of those coming with two outs.
Aloy was hit by a pitch to lead-off the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch, and stood at third base after an error that would have ended the inning. A walk to
Jaxon Byrd loaded the bases for
Braden Frank, whose ground ball to third was unable to be fielded cleanly, allowing Aloy to score and make it a one-run game.
Another error on a ball hit by
Ryan Christiansen allowed two more runs to come home, giving the Hornets a lead they would not relinquish, but they weren't done yet. Harrison was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Aloy drove home a run on a ball that was touched in fair territory by the Menlo pitcher as both fell into foul ground, and Smith drew a walk to drive home another to make it 8-4.
The Oaks got one of the runs back in the fifth, but the Hornets pulled away even further scoring on a sacrifice pop-up by Aloy that the second baseman caught in short centerfield, allowing Harrison to score in the fifth, and adding another on an RBI single by
Zack Malone to cap the scoring.
On a designated staff night,
Cooper Rons (3-1) was credited with the win as the junior right-hander pitched two innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four.
Wesley Harper finished the game with three strikeouts and a hit allowed over the final two innings.
Aloy finished with two RBI and two runs scored, ending the night as one of three Hornets to cross the plate twice along with Harrison and Christiansen. Sophomore
Jeffery Heard extended his hitting streak to six games — the longest active run by a Hornet — with a single in the eighth after entering the game as a defensive replacement in the seventh, as well as extending his reached base safely streak to 15 consecutive contests.
Sacramento State also drew 11 walks on the night, three of those by Christiansen alone, while Smith and Malone also walked twice. In all, seven of the nine Hornets' starters finished with at least one walk, while three Hornets were hit by a pitch.
This week's series against Utah Valley begins on Thursday (April 6) at 6 p.m., with the same start time scheduled for Friday's (April 7) game two. The series finale is scheduled for a Noon start on Saturday (April 8).
