SACRAMENTO — Late-inning heroics ruled the day at John Smith Field on Friday as the Sacramento State baseball team claimed victory in its Western Athletic Conference opener in dramatic fashion, scoring twice in the eighth to tie the game and walking-off Utah Valley with a run in the bottom of the ninth en route to a 4-3 victory.
The Hornets improved to 6-7 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Wolverines fell to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
Sophomore Ryan Christiansen got the winning rally started with a one-out walk and went first-to-third when Jose Ruiz dropped a one-out single into deep left field, putting runners at the corners for Jacob Cortez. The sophomore catcher fell behind in the count 0-2 before bouncing a ball to the left side where it was fielded cleanly by the Utah Valley first baseman.
The ensuing throw home was in time, but Christiansen found a way under the tag of the Wolverine catcher, getting his right foot on the plate just before the tag to set the Hornets off streaming out of their dugout in celebration.
Friday's win capped Sacramento State's fourth come-from-behind victory of the season after Utah Valley took an early 1-0 lead and, then, broke a 1-1 tie with single runs in the sixth and eighth innings to put the Hornets down to their final six outs.
A third-inning home run put the Wolverines out front first before Sacramento State broke up the shutout with a run of its own in the fourth.
Gunner Gouldsmith led-off with a single to extend his hitting streak to six games and moved all the way to third on
JP Smith's single to right. After a strikeout,
Tyler White lifted a fly ball to center, deep enough to plate Gouldsmith and tie the game.
A pair of Luke Iverson RBI singles in the sixth and eighth put Utah Valley back in front, but the Hornet bats weren't finished.
Cortez sparked the rally with his first home run of the season, clearing the wall in dead centerfield to make it a one-run game. A walk and a wild pitch put
Matt Masciangelo on second and he moved up 90 feet on Gouldsmith's chopper to the right side for the first out of the inning.
Following a pop-up, Valero slapped a single to left field, allowing Masciangelo to score the tying run and set up the ninth-inning drama.
Junior right-hander
Tyler Stewart pitched well, working into the sixth allowing just two runs on four hits and striking out six. Sophomore
Xavier Richards followed with 2.2 innings of work, allowing a run on three hits and striking out a pair before
Kade Brown (1-0) came in to pitch the ninth and pick up his first win of the year, striking out the side around a two-out hit batter.
Gray Bailey (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing an earned run (two overall) on two hits, walking a pair and striking out two over the final 1.1 innings. Braden Boisvert pitched well in relief of opener Chase Hennessey, allowing just two runs on five hits while striking out seven without a walk over six innings.
Ruiz led all Hornet hitters by going 2-for-4 at the plate, while five other Sacramento State batters finished with hits.
Three Wolverines finished with two hits on the day with the top four hitters in the lineup accounting for all seven of the team's hits.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday (March 9) at 6 p.m. at John Smith Field.
