ST. GEORGE, Utah — Freshman Brett Ott finished with a career-high three hits to help pace an 11-hit attack and the Sacramento State bullpen came through with five shutout innings as the Hornets evened their Western Athletic Conference series with a 9-4 victory over Utah Tech on Saturday afternoon in St. George, Utah.
The win improved Sacramento State to 8-10 overall and 3-2 in league play, while the Trailblazers, who won the opener on Friday night by a 9-4 score, fell to 4-15 overall and 2-3 in conference.
Ott collected his second straight multi-hit game with his 3-for-4 day at the plate, improving by one on Friday night's performance when he was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Ott added a pair of runs scored and another driven in on Saturday to finish as one of three Sacramento State players with at least two hits.
Among that group was senior Gunner Gouldsmith, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games after finishing 2-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, and senior Jorge Bojorquez, who was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
The top five in the Hornet lineup was productive, accounting for nine of the team's 11 hits, finishing the day 9-for-22 (.409) with six runs scored and six RBI.
Cooper Rons (3-0) earned the win in relief of starter Evan Gibbons, scattering two hits and striking out three over two innings of work. Ian Winterhalder and Andrew Monson then closed out the game with the throwing two scoreless, hitless innings and the latter striking out two in the ninth.
Carston Herman (0-4) suffered the loss, allowing five earned on seven hits over just 2.1 innings of work.
Sacramento State jumped out quickly for the second straight day, putting up a pair of runs in the first and adding four more in the third for a 6-0 lead.
A Gouldsmith single and the first of two doubles on the day for Ott set the table for the heart of the Hornet order as ground balls by JP Smith and Cesar Valero were enough to drive home a pair and a 2-0 lead.
It stayed that way until the third when Sacramento State broke the game open. An error and back-to-back singles by Gouldsmith and Orr loaded the bases for Smith, who dropped a single into shallow left center, scoring one for a 3-0 advantage. Valero then followed with a fly ball single the left field line to plate two more runs and make it a 5-0 lead.
Following a bunt single by Bojorquez to load the bases, sophomore Jacob Cortez then drew a walk two batters later to drive home another run and make it 6-0 in favor of the Hornets.
A two-run double in the home half of the third got the Trailblazers on the board, and Utah Tech added two more in the fourth on a pair of RBI doubles to make it a two-run game, but that would be as close as the home team would come.
Junior Matt Masciangelo clubbed his first home run as a Hornet to lead-off the sixth and Ott doubled for the second time on the day to drive home Jose Ruiz and get two of those runs back. Sacramento State then added a single run in the ninth as a throwing error on a ball hit by Cameron Sewell scored Bojorquez from second for the final 9-4 score.
Masciangelo's round-tripper gave the Hornets a home run in eight straight games (12 total) and 20 home runs as a team on the year. The streak of eight straight is the team's longest since they left the year in eight consecutive games from March 12-21, 2021, slugging 15 total in that stretch.
Meanwhile, Gouldsmith's 11-game hitting streak is the longest by a Hornet since both Wehiwa Aloy and Martin Vincelli-Simard finished with hits in the final 11 games of the 2023 season.
The decisive third game of the series is scheduled for Sunday (March 17) at 11 a.m. PT.
