SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento State baseball team will be busy this week, playing five games in the span of six days, with four of those at John Smith Field. The Hornets open with a pair of midweek contests beginning Tuesday (March 19) against Nevada at home at 6 p.m., followed by a short trip south to take on Pacific on Wednesday (March 20) at 6 p.m. in Stockton, Calif.

PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Nevada (8-9) at Sacramento State (8-11)
WHEN: Tuesday, March 19, 2024
TIME: 6 p.m. PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
WATCH LIVE: WAC Digital Network
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
BUY TICKETS: HornetSports.com

WHAT: Sacramento State (8-11) at Pacific (3-16)
WHEN: Wednesday, March 20, 2024
TIME: 5 p.m. PT
WHERE: Stockton, Calif.
STADIUM: Klein Family Field
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: PacificTigers.com

CHRISTIANSEN CLOSING IN ON ANOTHER MILESTONE…
• With one win over the weekend, Head Coach Reggie Christiansen improved to 188-141 (.571) in Western Athletic Conference games in his career, needing 12 more to reach the 200-win plateau in conference play
• Now in his 14th season at the helm of the Hornets, Christiansen's 188 WAC victories are the most among his conference head coaching brethren with Seattle's Donny Harrel standing second with 132 wins
• Earlier this year, Christiansen picked up his 500th career Division I coaching victory with a 7-5 victory over Minnesota on March 1
• In 2023, he earned his 500th overall win as a head coach at New Mexico State on April 30, and earned his 400th win as a Sacramento State head coach against Utah Tech on May 20 in the regular season finale
• Christiansen is one game shy of coaching in his 1,000th career game as a head coach, which would happen on March 19 against Nevada at home barring interference from Mother Nature between now and then

SCOUTING THE WOLF PACK…
• Nevada enters the week with an 8-9 overall record and a 4-2 mark in Mountain West Conference play
• Of the Wolf Pack's 17 games thus far, 14 of those have been played on the road, where they are 6-8
• Nevada is coming off a weekend in which it took two of three from New Mexico in its first home games of the year
• The Wolf Pack have won their last two weekend series — and four of their five overall — but they are 0-2 in midweek games, falling by single runs at UCLA (5-4) and UC San Diego (7-6)
• Sophomore catcher Jake Harvey is batting .383 with a 1.019 OPS to lead a group of five regulars batting better than .300 on the year
• Junior infielder JR Freethy leads the team with four home runs and has driven in 13 on the year
• Senior infielder Michael Ball leads the team with eight doubles and 18 RBI and is one of six players who have driven in 10-or-more runs this year
• Tuesday's scheduled starter, right-hander Easton Marks, is 1-1 with an 8.22 ERA in four starts, striking out 14 over 15.1 innings while holding opponents to a .281 average

SERIES NOTES…
• Nevada holds a 96-83 lead in the series with Sacramento State according to records that date back to 1954, including a 57-32 lead as Division I rivals
• The Hornets lead the series at home, 55-42-1, and have won three of the last four at John Smith Field
• Sacramento State has won two straight in the series and three of the last four, taking both midweek meetings last year by the scores of 9-4 and 12-8

SCOUTING THE TIGERS…
• Pacific enters the week with a 3-16 overall record, but has lost its last three after being swept in a three-game series at Lamar over the weekend
• The Tigers have lost 13 of their last 14, with the only win in that stretch coming against Utah Valley on March 12 at home
• Pacific is 3-6 at Klein Family Field this season while going 0-9 on the road
• The only other wins on the Tigers' schedule came at UNLV in the season opener and against North Dakota State on Feb. 23
• Sophomore outfielder Kaden Petersen leads the offense, batting .311 with a .980 OPS and slugging a pair of home runs and driving in 10
• Sophomore infielder Jack Metcho is the only other Pacific regular batting bettwen than .300 on the year, coming into the week hitting .304 with 21 hits and a team-high 11 RBI
• As a staff, Pacific's pitchers sport a 6.97 ERA and a .306 average against, striking out 103 over 164 innings

SERIES NOTES…
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Pacific by a 99-80-1 count, including a 48-38 lead in the series as Division I rivals
• The Hornets posted an 11-4 win over the Tigers earlier this year on March 3 at home
• Sacramento State has won four straight in the series after that meeting and seven of the last nine
• The Hornets have scored double-digit runs in each of those four wins, outscoring Pacific by a 53-33 count in that stretch
• The 18 runs scored in last year's second meeting at home were the most in the series since a 23-9 win at home in 1998

HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• This week's games against Nevada and Pacific mark the fifth and sixth midweek games of the year for Sacramento State
• The Hornets have dropped their last three midweek games to California (3-1), UC Davis (10-5) and Fresno State (5-4) since an 8-6 victory over the Bulldogs on Feb. 21
• Junior catcher Elie Kligman became the seventh Hornet to hit a home run this season in the finale against Utah Tech, clearing the wall in right centerfield for his first as a Hornet
• That came a day after junior outfielder Matt Masciangelo slugged his first home run as a Hornet in game two of the series with the Trailblazers
• All told, Sacramento State has hit 21 home runs as a team, a total that ranks fourth in the WAC entering the week
• The Hornets have also hit a home run in nine consecutive games (13 total) — the team's longest such streak since going 10 straight games (24 total) with a home run from March 25-April 11, 2008
• Sacramento State's 21 home runs in 19 games this season matches last year's pace which led the Hornets to a school single-season record 92 home runs
• Sophomore JP Smith's two home runs in the opener against Utah Tech were his 10th and 11th of the season, moving him to within three of his total from all of last year
• They also rank No. 6 in the NCAA entering the week, three shy of national leader Grant Knipp of Campbell University, and is one of only 14 players in the nation to reach double figures in the category
• Smith's 25 career home runs are just one shy of Dawsen Bacho (2017-22) for 10th on the school's career list and stand three back of current teammate Cesar Valero, Vinny Esposito (2015-18), and Tim Wheeler (2008-09) in a tie for seventh with 27
• Smith's 11 home runs this year are just three shy of a eight-way tie for 10th on the school's the single-season top 10 list
• With hits in all three games over the weekend, senior Gunner Gouldsmith extended his hitting streak to 12 consecutive games dating back to the game at California on Feb. 27
• During his streak, Gouldsmith is hitting .294 (15-for-51) with seven runs scored and six RBI, while raising his average 34 points in the process
• Hit just once over the weekend in Utah, Masciangelo's 14 HBPs are now tied for second in the nation, trailing Texas Tech's Cade McGee by one
• Smith leads the WAC in slugging (.747) and total bases (56), while ranking sixth in runs scored (19), and second in RBI (22) 
• Masciangelo is fourth in on-base percentage (.479)
• Valero is tied for ninth in RBI (16) and tied for fifth in doubles (6)
• Sacramento State's pitching staff has struck out 173 batters over 170 innings this season, ranking third in the WAC entering the week
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons is tied for 10th in the WAC with 25 strikeouts
• Sophomore right-hander Xavier Richards has made 11 appearances on the mound entering the week, ranking tied for No. 7 in the NCAA
• Richards has allowed only two earned runs over his last 12.2 innings (seven appearances) for a 1.42 ERA, while holding opponents to a .234 average (11-for-47)
• At 3-0 on the year, senior right-hander Cooper Rons leads the team in wins, having emerged with a victory in three of his last four appearances against Minnesota (March 1), Utah Valley (March 10), and Utah Tech (March 16)
• Rons has allowed only one earned run over his last 11.1 innings (six appearances) for a 0.79 ERA, scattering 10 hits and striking out 14 in that span, holding opponents to a .238 average (10-for-42)