SACRAMENTO — Junior right-hander Tyler Stewart allowed just one earned run and struck out three over six innings of work and the Hornets led wire-to-wire on Friday afternoon, upsetting No. 22-ranked UC Santa Barbara by a 6-2 score at John Smith Field.
Sacramento State won its third consecutive game to improve to 3-2 overall on the year, while the Gauchos suffered their third consecutive loss, falling to 1-3 overall.
Stewart (1-1) scattered six hits for his first "quality start" of the season, stranding runners at the corners in the first and holding UCSB scoreless until the fifth. The bullpen then took over in the seventh as Cooper Rons, Brady Chavez, and Kade Brown shut down the Gaucho bats, holding the visitors to just one hit and striking out four while facing just two over the minimum.
Matt Ager (0-1) suffered the loss for UC Santa Barbara, charged with three earned (five overall) on five hits, while walking a pair and striking out five over 4.1 innings of work.
Back-to-back RBI doubles in the first by Cesar Valero and Tyler White staked the Hornets to the early lead as Gunner Gouldsmith reached on a one-out single against the shift and scored two batters later when Valero found room down the left field line for the 1-0 lead.
White then traded places with Valero, slicing a double to right, easily scoring his teammate for the two-run advantage five pitches later.
Senior Jorge Bojorquez extended the lead to 3-0 in the second as Matt Masicangelo drew a lead-off walk and moved to second on a wild pitch before Bojorquez dropped a ball right in front of the Gaucho left fielder that was ruled "no catch" by the officials, allowing Masciangelo's run to count.
UC Santa Barbara left runners on in each of the next two innings before finally breaking through in the fifth. An error to lead-off the inning brought up Justin Trimble, who took the first pitch he saw over the wall in right to make it a one-run game.
Sacramento State, however, got the two runs back quickly in the home half as an error and a double put two on for JP Smith, who skied a ball to centerfield for a sacrifice fly, plating Gouldsmith for a 4-2 lead. After a pitching change, Valero did the same, this time skying a ball to right field deep enough to score Gouldsmith for the 5-2 advantage.
The Hornets added a run in the eighth as Valero drew a one-out walk and was pinch run for by Brett Ott, who moved to second on a wild pitch and scored two batters later on Elie Kligman's first hit as a Hornet — a single to center — for the final 6-2 score.
Gouldsmith finished 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to eight consecutive games, adding a pair of runs, while four other Hornets finished with hits on the day.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday evening (Feb. 24) at 6 p.m.
