SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State baseball team scored five runs in the seventh and nine more in the eighth to complete a comeback from down seven runs and the Hornets set a school single-season home run record with three more long balls on the night as they defeated visiting Pacific, 18-15, in a Tuesday night non-conference slugfest at John Smith Field.
The victory improved Sacramento State to 27-26 overall on the year, sweeping the regular season series with the Tigers after winning the first meeting by an 11-8 score in 10 innings back on April 10. The loss dropped Pacific to 14-32 overall on the year.
In addition to setting season high's in runs scored (18), hits (22), and runs in a single inning (nine in the eighth), senior Martin Vincelli-Simard slugged his 16th home run of the year and the 84th of the season for the Hornets, breaking the tie with the 1998 squad for the most in program history. The 84 home runs are also the most by a Western Athletic Conference school since New Mexico State hit 104 and Fresno State hit 88 in 2010.
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It was Vincelli-Simard's blast that got the rally going for Sacramento State in the fifth as his three-run shot answered a six-run top of the inning to make it 8-4. The home run was the 34th of his career, putting him one shy of Harvey Hargrove's career record, and the 16th of the season, matching Mikaela Olsen and Jesse Schmidt in 2003 and Chris Kinsey in 2002 for fifth on the school's single-season list.
The game remained that way until the seventh when the Hornets rallied to take their first lead of the night.
JP Smith and
Jorge Bojorquez reached on one-out singles to bring up
Jeffery Heard, who crushed his 11th home run of the year to right field to make it a one-run game. A double by
Cesar Valero, a walk to pinch-hitter
Garet Crenshaw, and a passed ball put two more into scoring position for
Josh Rolling, who dropped a single into right centerfield, scoring both for a 9-8 lead.
That advantage didn't last long as Pacific answered with two runs in the top of the eighth to regain the lead, but that would be the last time. Smith led-off the home half with his 12th home run of the year to tie the game and the Hornets were off and running. A hit batter and a single, followed by a wild pitch, put two in scoring position for Valero, who lined a single up the middle for a 12-10 lead Sacramento State would not relinquish.
Gunner Gouldsmith added an RBI single, Smith drove in a pair with a double down the left field line, Bojorquez singled up the middle for two more runs, and Valero capped the inning with an RBI single that ballooned the Hornets' advantage to 18-10, sending 14 batters to the plate in the frame.
Pacific would not go quietly into the good night, however, scoring five runs in the top of the ninth to make things interesting. The Tigers slugged a pair of home runs in the inning and added an RBI single, but could get no closer.
Heard finished with a career-best four hits as part of a 4-for-5 night, scoring a pair of runs and driving in three, while Valero tied a season high with four hits of his own, adding a pair of runs and three RBI as well.
Wehiwa Aloy added three hits and a pair of runs to extend his hitting streak to eight games, while Smith tied a career high with a 3-for-5 night with three RBI. Gouldsmith, Bojorquez, and Rolling added multi-hit games, while Bojorquez scored four runs.
With his three hits, Aloy now has 82 on the year -- the most in a single season by a Hornet since Ian Dawkins finished with 89 in 2018.
Jack Zalasky (4-2) earned the win in relief, striking out one in two-thirds of an inning, while Ryan Martinez (0-1) was tagged with the loss for Pacific, charged with four runs on three hits without getting an out.
Sacramento State closes out the regular season at home beginning Thursday (May 18) at 6 p.m., opening a three-game series against Utah Tech at John Smith Field.
