SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento State baseball team begins the stretch run at home on Tuesday (May 9), hosting UC Davis in the third meeting of the year between the Causeway rivals at John Smith Field. Playing five of their final eight games of the regular season at home, the clash between the Hornets and Aggies will begin at 6 p.m., leading up to a three-game Western Athletic Conference road series at California Baptist on May 12-14 in Riverside, Calif.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: UC Davis (17-26) at Sacramento State (24-24)
WHEN: Tuesday, May 9, 2023
TIME: 6 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com
WHAT: Sacramento State (24-24, 10-14 WAC) at California Baptist (25-23, 13-11 WAC)
WHEN: Friday-Sunday, May 12-14, 2023
TIME: 6 p.m. | 5 p.m. | Noon
WHERE: Riverside, Calif.
STADIUM: Totman Stadium
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+ - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
LIVE STATS: CBULancers.com - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
SCOUTING UC DAVIS…
After winning only six games a season ago, the Aggies are much-improved in 2023, entering the week with a 17-26 overall record and a 7-14 mark in Big West Conference play… UC Davis is fresh off its third conference series win of the season, taking 2-of-3 from visiting Cal Poly over the weekend after sandwiching 1-0 and 8-0 wins around an 8-1 loss in the middle game… Tuesday's game at Sacramento State begins a run of five straight road games for the Aggies, who travel to Hawai'i and San Francisco over the course of the next week… UC Davis is 7-14 away from home this season and is just 2-8 in its last 10 on the road, which includes a win at nationally ranked UCLA on April 16… The Aggies are hitting .254 as a team with 82 doubles and 27 home runs in 43 games… As a staff, UC Davis pitchers have combined for a 5.51 ERA, striking out 274 over 380.1 innings and posting a .281 average against.
SERIES NOTES…
Sacramento State leads the all-time series with UC Davis, 143-90-1, according to available records dating back to the 1950 season, including a 45-36 lead in the school's Division I era… Each team has held serve at home this season with the Hornets posting a 9-6 win at John Smith Field back on March 7, and the Aggies answering with a 4-3 victory in 11 innings at Dobbins Stadium on April 11 to snap a five-game skid against Sacramento State… The winner of Tuesday's game will not only win the midweek series between the two long-time rivals, but will host two of the three meetings between the two programs in 2024… The Hornets are 87-37 all time against UC Davis at home, winning the last four meetings at John Smith Field… The Aggies' last win in Sacramento came on May 10, 2016, posting a 7-1 victory.
SCOUTING CALIFORNIA BAPTIST…
The Lancers enter the week with a 25-23 overall record and a 13-11 mark in WAC play, standing tied for fourth in the league, three games ahead of Sacramento State… California Baptist travels to crosstown rival UC Riverside on Tuesday (May 9) before welcoming the Hornets in for three games… CBU is coming off a 2-2 week, defeating UC Santa Barbara, 6-4, in a midweek contest and winning the opener, 5-4, over UT Arlington before dropping the final two games to the Mavericks by a single run each… Of the team's 25 wins, 13 have come at home, where the Lancers have won three of their last four… As a team, California Baptist enters the week batting .282 with an .827 OPS, slugging 60 home runs to help bolster a .459 slugging percentage… Meanwhile, the CBU pitching staff ranks second in the WAC with a 5.44 ERA and fourth with a .277 average against, while walking the third-most hitters in the league.
SERIES NOTES…
Sacramento State leads the all-time series with California Baptist by an 8-4 count, taking two of three at home from the Lancers in 2022… The Hornets are 5-3 on the road in the series against the Lancers, last posting a 14-1 victory in the 2021 series finale after CBU took the first two games by the scores of 6-1 and 7-6 in 10 innings… Until last year's series, the previous eight meetings had all been played in Riverside, Calif., after Sacramento State won the inaugural meeting, 8-2, on Feb. 24, 1981… All but two of the meetings (single games in 1981 and 1982) have been as Western Athletic Conference rivals, with the Hornets winning six of the 10… Of the 12 all-time meetings, six have been decided by two runs or fewer.
CONGRATS, COACH!…
Head Coach Reggie Christiansen picked up career victory No. 500 in the Hornets' 16-10 win at New Mexico State on April 30, and is closing in on a couple more. Christiansen, who has won 394 games at Sacramento State, 96 more at South Dakota State, and 11 at his alma mater Menlo College, needs six more wins to reach No. 400 in his Sacramento State career, 10 more to record 500 Division I victories and 18 more to reach 200 WAC triumphs.
HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• Sacramento State is an impressive 8-3 in midweek games this season, winning four of its last six and 11 of 14 dating back to last season.
• This year's eight midweek wins are the most since the 2014 squad finished with nine.
• Sacramento State is a perfect 4-0 at home in midweek games this year, posting wins over Nevada (9-4 on March 2), UC Davis (9-6 on March 7), San Jose State (7-6 on March 22), and Menlo College (10-5 on April 3).
• The Hornets have outscored midweek opponents by a 95-77 count in those 11 games, averaging 8.64 runs per game and batting .296 as a team to 7.7 runs per game and a .273 average for the opposition. Pitching wise, Sacramento State's staff is just over a run better, posting a 5.91 ERA to the opponents' 7.05 ERA.
• The offense saved their best for last against UT Rio Grande Valley, scoring nearly half (10) of their 23 runs in the series in the eighth and ninth innings. The Hornets have outscored opponents 55-31 in those two frames combined entering the week.
• With its six home runs last week, Sacramento State now has a WAC-high 74 home runs on the year, which also ranks No. 43 in the NCAA entering the week (Florida Gulf Coast leads all of Division I with 113).
• This season's home run total ranks third on the school's all-time list, standing behind only the 83 hit in 1998 and the 75 home runs in 1997.
• The Hornets have hit at least one home run in each of their last seven games (18 total) — including multiple home runs in the each of the first five games of that streak. That is tied for the longest stretch on consecutive games with a home run by the team this year, matching the run from March 11-24 (12 total home runs).
• Speaking of saving their best for last, five of the team's last eight home runs have come in the eighth inning or later.
• Of the team's last 24 home runs, 17 of those have been of the solo variety.
• The Hornets' five-run fifth in the series opener against UTRGV marked the team's 21st "big inning" (four-or-more runs) of the season as they improved to 12-5 in games in which they score at least four runs in an inning.
• Break out the rally caps… Last Friday's series opening win saw Sacramento State erase a three-run deficit in the fifth en route to the 12-6 victory — its 15th come-from-behind win of the year. The Hornets have come from behind to win in each of their last four victories and seven of their last nine.
• Freshman JP Smith is the hottest hitter in the Hornets' lineup entering the week, collecting at least one hit in each of his last 14 games — the longest by a Sacramento State player this season and the longest since Matt Smith hit safely in 16 games from April 17 to May 9, 2021.
• According to available records, Smith's 14-game hitting streak is tied for 16th on the school's all-time list.
• During his streak, Smith is batting .400 (24-for-60) with 12 runs scored, three home runs, seven multi-hit games, and 14 RBI dating back to an 0-for-4 against UT Arlington on April 14, raising his average 43 points to .343 on the season in the process.
• Junior Josh Rolling is on a bit of a tear himself, entering the week with hits in each of his last six games. He is batting .458 (11-for-24) with four runs scored, three home runs (including a two home run game at New Mexico State in the finale), and five RBI.
• Rolling's eighth home run of the season in the opener against UT Rio Grande Valley set a new career high for the Reno, Nev., native, surpassing the seven he hit in his first year in 2022.
• Senior Martin Vincelli-Simard's first-inning home run in the finale against UT Rio Grande Valley was the 31st of his career, giving him sole possession of second on the school's all-time list behind only Harvey Hargrove and his 35 career blasts from 1995-97.
• The blast gave him a team-high 13 on the season, breaking a tie with freshman Wehiwa Aloy and matching teammate Cesar Valero's total from 2022.
• A 14th home run by Vincelli-Simard (or any other Hornet for that matter) would be the most since Tim Wheeler hit 18 in 2009 and would rank tied for ninth on the school's single-season list along with Gabe Jacobo (2007), Joe Evans (2001), Dan Elorduy (1998), Derek Brown (1994), and Steve Thobe (1994).
• Aloy, however, still holds the mark for the most home runs by a freshman in the program's Division I history with his 12th against at New Mexico State on April 30. Classmate JP Smith ranks tied for third on that list alongside Rhys Hoskins (2012) with 10.
SINGLE-SEASON HOME RUNS AS A FRESHMAN (Division I only)
1. Wehiwa Aloy, 2023 - 12
2. Justin Lamb, 2009 - 11
t3. JP Smith, 2023 - 10
t3. Rhys Hoskins, 2012 - 10
5. Steven Moretto, 2018 - 8
t6. Martin Vincelli-Simard, 2019 - 7
t6. Vinny Esposito, 2015 - 7
t6. Chris Kinsey, 2001 - 7
t9. Brandon Hunley, 2014 - 6
t9. Tim Wheeler, 2007 - 6
t9. Bret LeVier, 2002 - 6
• With their double-digit home run totals, Vincelli-Simard, Aloy, and Smith give the Hornets a trio with 10-or-more home runs for the first time since 2017: Kody Reynolds (11), James Outman (11), and Vinny Esposito (10).
• Standing just outside that group is Cesar Valero with nine home runs and Jeffery Head and Josh Rolling with eighth. Should one of those three reach 10 home runs, Sacramento State would have four players with double digits in that category for the first time since 1998: Josh Payne (18), Dan Elorduy (14), Jason Bolton (13), and Mike Dominisse (11).
• Vincelli-Simard has collected hits in seven of his last eight games, batting .412 (14-for-34) with 10 runs scored, four doubles, four home runs, and 10 RBI in that stretch.
• He also collected multiple hits in two of the three games against UTRGV — including a season-high tying three hits in the finale — to give him 17 such performances at the plate this year.
• With his three RBI in the finale, Vincelli-Simard now has 18 multi-RBI games on the season and 40 in his career — the latter the most by any active Hornet (Jorge Bojorquez is second with 21).
• The 47 RBI by Vincelli-Simard are the most since Dawsen Bacho finished with 53 in 2019.
• With his two hits in the finale against UTRGV, freshman Wehiwa Aloy collected his 25th multi-hit game of the season — the most since Ian Dawkins finished with 30 during the 2018 campaign.
• Aloy's 55 runs scored are just one shy of a six-way tie for eighth on the school's single-season list, which would match Ian Dawkins (2017), Jack Arroyo (2004), Mike Carpenter (1994), Deron Curran (1986), and Kevin Kobza (1985).
• Aloy enters the week ranked among the top 50 hitters in the nation in hits (No. 40) and runs scored (No. 44), while standing No. 41 in total bases (129) and No. 43 in triples (4).
• He needs 11 more hits to reach the single-season top 10, which would place him in a tie for 10th along with Blake Crosby (83 in 2009), Jason Bolton (83 in 1998), and Mark Gieseke (83 in 1988).
• Junior Cesar Valero has 21 career multi-hit games as a Hornet, but his 4-for-5 performance with five RBI in the opener against UTRGV marked his first career four-hit game.
• Thanks to his two-run single in the fifth inning of the series opener against the Vaqueros, Garet Crenshaw became the 11th different player to collect a game-winning RBI this season. His single brought home Valero with the winning run, who became the 11th different player to score a game-winning run in 2023.
• The 385 strikeouts by the Hornet staff this season ranks eighth on the school's single-season list, 10 shy of the 2001 team in seventh, while the 8.33 strikeouts per nine innings would rank third on the single-season list.
• Slated to start the opener against California Baptist on Friday (May 12), Max Pettey will be making only the fourth start of his career and his first since going the first two innings against San Francisco on May 3, 2022.
• If true, Pettey would become the 12th Hornet to make a start on the mound in 2023.
• Pettey is fresh off one of his best performances of the season, throwing four hitless, scoreless innings in the series-opening victory over UTRGV, striking out a career-high seven Vaqueros and picking up his second save in his last three appearances.
• It was Pettey's longest outing since he went five innings at Stephen F. Austin back on April 1.
• Senior right-hander Jack Zalasky leads the WAC and ranks tied for 13th in the nation with his nine saves, ranking tied for eighth on the school's single season list along with Sutter McLoughlin's 2014 total.
• Zalasky is only two saves shy of his career-high 11 saves from 2022, which rank tied for second on that same single-season list.
• Sacramento State's defense has turned a double play in each of the team's last four games, giving the Hornets 46 on the year and putting the Hornets fifth in the nation behind Southern Illinois (53).
