SACRAMENTO — Senior Gunner Gouldsmith finished 3-for-4 and junior Jose Ruiz slugged his first home run as a Hornet on Saturday night, but the Sacramento State could not muster up enough offense to overcome an early deficit, dropping game two of its series with visiting Utah Valley by a 5-2 score at John Smith Field.
The Hornets moved to 6-8 overall on the season and 1-1 in Western Athletic Conference play, while the Wolverines improved to 4-9 overall and 1-1 in league.
Three runs in the first and another in the second staked Utah Valley to the early lead and gave the Wolverines all the runs they would need on the night before Sacramento State broke up the shutout in the fifth when Ruiz scores Jacob Cortez ahead of him on a home run to left field to make it a 4-2 game.
The Hornets had a chance to tack on more in the inning as a hit batter and a single, followed by a couple of wild pitches, put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out, but the Wolverines wriggled off the hook with a pair of strikeouts and a foul out to end the inning.
Utah Valley added a run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly while shutting down the Sacramento State bats, allowing just four base runners from the sixth inning on, including a key double play in the ninth after a walk and single put two Hornets on with nobody out.
Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons (0-2) tied his career high with eight strikeouts over five innings of work, but allowed four runs on seven hits in the loss. Brady Chavez and Max Pettey each struck out three in relief, while Noah Lucchesi struck out a pair in the ninth, stranding a pair of Wolverines in scoring position.
Mitch Mueller (1-0) earned the win with 3.2 innings in relief of starter Ethan Fowlks, facing just one over the minimum in his stint while striking out four. Fowlks struck out eight over 4.1 innings in the start, allowing two runs on five hits, while Nick Sims nailed down his first save of the year, allowing a hit and striking out one in the ninth.
The two schools wrap-up their three-game series with the rubber match on Sunday (March 10) at Noon.
