EUGENE, Ore. — The Sacramento State baseball team will depart Eugene, Ore., with a split of their two-game midweek series with No. 17 Oregon after the homestanding Ducks posted an 11-4 victory over the Hornets on Wednesday evening at PK Park.
After winning the opener by a 15-8 score on Tuesday, Sacramento State moved to 15-20 overall on the year heading into this weekend's three-game Western Athletic Conference series with SeattleU, which begins on Friday (April 12). Oregon improved to 23-9 overall with the victory.
Junior catcher Elie Kligman was one of six Hornets with a hit on the night, finishing 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of RBI, while senior Cesar Valero added another double and scored twice. Junior outfielder Tyler White added a third-inning single to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
The Ducks flipped the script on the Hornets on Wednesday after Sacramento State opened Tuesday's win with seven runs in the first. Oregon opened with four runs in its half of the first inning and, after Sacramento State clawed back to within a run with three in the top half of the second, broke open the contest with a three spot in its half.
A hit by pitch and a walk to Valero set the table in that second inning for the Hornets as Kligman's one-out double was enough to score JP Smith and get the Hornets on the board. Freshman Myles Walton followed with an RBI ground ball and sophomore Ryan Christiansen, who hit his first two career home runs in the opener against the Ducks, added an RBI single to make it 4-3.
Sacramento State would add a run in the fourth on a Kligman ground ball that made it 7-4 at the time, but that would be as close as the Hornets would get. Oregon added two more runs in the sixth and tacked on a pair in the eighth en route to the finale score.
Sophomore Jaxon Byrd (0-2) was charged with the loss, allowing the first four runs on five hits in an inning of work as five different pitchers saw action on the mound for Sacramento State. Freshman Andrew Overland, who pitched the next two innings, finished with a career-high five strikeouts, while freshman Bryce Stockton allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings, striking out a pair.
Ian Umlandt (2-0) earned the win for the Ducks, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out nine over seven innings of work. Oregon also got a boost from its defense, which turned four double plays on the night.
First pitch for Friday's opener against the Redhawks is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Bannerwood Ballpark in Bellevue, Wash., followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday (April 13) and a Noon first pitch on Sunday (April 14). All three games will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network.
