SACRAMENTO — After playing 19 of their first 24 games at home, the Sacramento State baseball team embarks on its longest stretch of consecutive road games to date this week, opening a run of four straight away from John Smith Field at UC Davis on Tuesday (March 26) at 2:30 p.m.
PLAY BALL…
WHAT: Sacramento State (10-14) at UC Davis (11-10)
WHEN: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
TIME: 2:30 p.m. PT
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
STADIUM: Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCDavisAggies.com
BUY TICKETS: UCDavisAggies.com
SCOUTING THE AGGIES…
• UC Davis enters the week with an 11-10 overall record, but wraps up their three-game conference series with UC San Diego on Monday (March 25) at 1 p.m.
• The Aggies and the Tritons split the first two games of the series with UC Davis winning the opener, 2-0, before falling in game two, 2-1
• With Monday's game still to play, the Aggies are 7-3 at home this year, but have played only three of their last 14 at their home diamond after opening with eight straight at home
• Junior outfielder Mark Wobert is one of two UC Davis regulars batting better than .300 on the year, hitting .317 entering the week with a team-high 26 hits to go with 11 RBI
• Junior outfielder Riley Acosta is batting .316 with 12 runs scored a home run and seven RBI
• As a team, the Aggies are batting .258 while narrowly outscoring opponents, 123-121
• On the mound, the UC Davis staff has posted a 5.37 ERA and a .281 average against, striking out 156 against 84 walks
SERIES NOTES…
• Tuesday marks the second of three meetings between the Hornets and Aggies this season
• Sacramento State will host the final meeting between the two programs on April 30
• The winner of each season's "series" earns the right to host two of the three meetings the following season
• UC Davis won the opener back on March 5 by a 10-5 score at John Smith Field
• One of the longest-running series in the history of the program, Sacramento State leads the all-time series with UC Davis by a 144-91-1 count, including a 46-37 advantage as a Division I program
• The Hornets hold a 55-48 lead in the series in games played in Davis
• The Aggies edged Sacramento State, 4-3, in 11 innings in the last meeting at Phil Swimley Field on April 11 of last year
• The Hornets have won six of the last eight in the series and 25 of the last 30 dating back to 2009
• UC Davis hasn't won back-to-back games against Sacramento State since a 7-1 win on May 10, 2016, and a 7-6 win on April 4, 2017
• Sacramento State is 1-3 against Big West Conference opponents this year after going 1-2 against then-No. 22 UC Santa Barbara at the end of February and 0-1 against UC Davis
MIDWEEK MADNESS…
• Tuesday's game at UC Davis marks the seventh midweek game for Sacramento State this season
• The Hornets are 2-4 in their previous six midweek contests, posting wins over Fresno State (Feb. 21) and Nevada (March 19)
• Four of Sacramento State's previous six midweek games have been decided by two runs or fewer, downing the Bulldogs, 8-6, in the first meeting of the year between the two while falling at California (3-1 on Feb. 27), against Fresno State (5-4 on March 12), and at Pacific (3-2 on March 20)
• The Hornets have seven midweek contests remaining this season against San Francisco (April 1), at Nevada (April 2), two at Oregon (April 9-10), at Stanford (April 16), against UC Davis (April 30), and versus Nevada (May 7)
LOOKING AHEAD…
• Following the game at UC Davis, the Hornets will quickly board a plane and head to Arizona for a three-game Western Athletic Conference series at Grand Canyon on March 28-30
HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• Sacramento State slugged three home runs in the series opener against Abilene Christian — the sixth time this year that the Hornets have hit multiple home runs in a single game this year
• The 11 runs in the opener against the Wildcats marked the fifth time this year that Sacramento State has reached double figures, while the 11 hits in game two marked the seventh time in the last 10 games that the Hornets have collected 10-or-more hits
• Sacramento State was off to the races in the series opener with ACU, stealing six bases — the most since the Hornets had six against Pacific on Feb. 23, 2019
• The hits just keep on coming for senior Gunner Gouldsmith, who extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a one-out double in the sixth inning of the series finale against Abilene Christian on Sunday (March 24)
• The 17-game streak broke a tie with six other streaks for sole possession of ninth on the school's all-time chart
• An 18-game streak would match Blake Crosby (2009) and Derek Brown (1994) for seven on the list
• The record is held by Jesse Schmidt, who hit in 24 consecutive games from March 11 to April 22, 2003
• In the process, Gouldsmith has raised her average nearly 100 points to a team-high .317 entering the week
• He is hitting .356 (26-for-73) with four doubles, 12 runs scored, and 12 RBI during the hitting streak
• Last week, Gouldsmith hit .500 (11-for-22) with five runs scored, two doubles, and four RBI, with a .591 slugging percentage and a .520 on-base percentage over five games
• Senior Cesar Valero hit his fifth home run of the season in the opener against Abilene Christian, giving him 28 for his career which ranks seven on the school's all-time list
• Sophomore JP Smith slugged two home runs in that same game, giving him 13 for the season and 27 for his career, which now ranks tied for eighth on the all-time list along with Vinny Esposito (2015-18) and Tim Wheeler (2007-09)
• Smith's 13 home runs are just one shy of his total from all of 2023, which is tied for 10th on the school's single-season list and shares the single-season record for home runs by a freshman in the program's Division I history
• The 13 home runs for JP Smith enter the week ranked tied for No. 5 in the NCAA, trailing Georgia's Charlie Condon (17) for the national lead, and leads the WAC by four over Grand Canyon's Beau Ankeney and Utah Valley's Nate Bach
• Should he finish atop the league leaderboard at the end of the year, Smith would become only the third Hornet to lead the WAC in home runs joining a pair of Major Leaguers: Rhys Hoskins hit 12 in 2014 and James Outman hit 11 in 2018
• Junior Matt Masciangelo was hit by a pitch two more times on the weekend, keeping him atop the NCAA leaderboard in that category alongside San Francisco's Kody Watanabe with 16
• Masciangelo's total is tied for seventh on the school's single-season list alongside David Del Grande (2012) and is just three off the record of 19 shared by Buddy Morales (2006), Carlos Morales (2000), and Dan Vetter (1995)
• Junior infielder Jose Ruiz is on a six-game hitting streak of her own, batting .381 (8-for-21) with seven runs scored, a pair of doubles, a home run, and four RBI
• Junior right-hander Tyler Stewart posted his second "quality start" of the year, allowing just one run on three hits over six innings in the series opener against Abilene Christian
• Stewart shut out the Wildcats over his first five innings before ACU was able to scratch across a run, eventually stranding five baserunners — three of those in scoring position
• The Hornets' bullpen was bullish against Abilene Christian over the weekend, combining for a 2.41 ERA over 18.2 innings of work, while holding the Wildcats to a .229 average and striking out 21 against only four walks in the three-game series
• Sophomore right-hander Xavier Richards enters the week with a team-high 13 appearances on the year, which leads the WAC and ranks No. 11 in the NCAA
• Over his last nine appearances (15.1 innings), Richards has posted a 1.76 ERA and held opponents to a .254 average (15-for-59), striking out 19 against only three walks
• Senior Cooper Rons has allowed only three earned runs over his last 15 innings (eight appearances) for a 1.80 ERA, scattering 14 hits and striking out 20 in that span while holding opponents to a .246 average (14-for-57)
• Freshman Kade Brown struck out a career-high six over a career-high four innings of work in the finale against Abilene Christian on Sunday, allowing just two hits in the process
• Brown has held opponents to a WAC-low .113 average against (only seven hits allowed) to go along with a 1.56 ERA and 24 strikeouts over his last nine appearances
HORNETS IN THE WAC…
• Sophomore JP Smith leads the WAC in slugging (.714), sixth in runs scored (21), second in RBI (27), leads in home runs (13), second in total bases (65)
• Junior Matt Masciangelo is fifth in on-base percentage (.469), leads in hit by pitches (16)
• Senior Gunner Gouldsmith is tied for fifth in hits (33)
• Senior Cesar Valero is ninth in RBI (20), tied for sixth in doubles (8)
• Junior Elie Kligman is tied for ninth in walks (14)
• Senior Cooper Rons is 13th in ERA (2.60), tied for fifth in wins (3), tied for sixth in appearances (10), sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.42)
• Freshman Kade Brown leads in opponent batting average (.113), tied for second in saves (3), tied for sixth in appearances (10), third in fewest hits allowed (7), tied for 10th in fewest runs allowed (6), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.05)
• Freshman Andrew Overland is 12th in opponent batting average (.219)
• Junior Tyler Stewart is 10th in innings pitched (31.0)
• Senior Evan Gibbons in 11th in strikeouts (27)
• Sophomore Xavier Richards leads in appearances (13)
• Junior Andrew Monson is tied for third in appearances (11)
• Junior Noah Lucchesi is tied for fourth in fewest walks allowed (3)
