SACRAMENTO — Amidst a season-long run of nine straight games away from home, the Sacramento State baseball team breaks from Western Athletic Conference play for its next four games beginning with a single contest on Tuesday (April 16) at Bay Area rival Stanford. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.

PLAY BALL!
WHAT: Sacramento State (18-20, 9-9 WAC) at Stanford (14-19, 7-8 Pac-12)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 16, 2024
TIME: 6 PM
WHERE: Stanford, Calif.
STADIUM: Sunken Diamond
WATCH: Pac-12 Live Stream
LIVE STATS: Live Stats
GAME NOTES: Stanford | Western Athletic Conference

PROBABLE STARTERS…
Sacramento State: RHP Jasper Nelson (0-0, 12.10 ERA)
Stanford: RHP Ryan Speshyock (0-1, 10.67 ERA)\

SCOUTING THE CARDINAL…
• Stanford enters the week with a 14-19 overall record and a 7-8 mark in Pac-12 Conference play, good for sixth place in the standings entering the week
• The Cardinal are coming off a series loss to No. 5 Oregon State on the road over the weekend, dropping the first two games in the series before winning the finale by an 11-10 score
• Stanford is 7-11 at Sunken Diamond this year, but has lost its last two after dropping the series finale against Washington State on April 7 and a non-conference meeting with conference rival Arizona on April 8
• Sophomore outfielder Cort MacDonald leads a quartet of regulars with a .323 average, scoring 20 runs to go with three home runs and 20 RBI
• Sophomore catcher Malcolm Moore leads the team with eight home runs while driving in 20, but is batting just .224
• As a team, Stanford is hitting a combined .273 with 64 doubles and 32 home runs for a .427 slugging percentage, but have been outscored by a 208-165 count
• Tuesday's scheduled starter, freshman right-hander Ryan Speshyock, is making only his second start of the year, posting an 0-1 record and a 10.67 ERA
• Speshyock started the non-conference game against the Wildcats on April 8, allowing four runs on four hits and striking out two over 3.0 innings of work
• As a staff, the Cardinal boast a 5.95 team ERA and a 1.53 WHIP, striking out 329 against only 178 walks in 292 innings
• Opponents are hitting just .243 against the Stanford staff

SERIES NOTES…
• Stanford leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 34-18 count according to records that date back to 1952, but only a 22-15 advantage in the Hornets' Division I era
• Of Sacramento State's 18 wins in the series, 10 of those have come at Sunken Diamond where the Hornets are a combined 10-24
• Sacramento State, however, has won the last two meetings with the Cardinal: posting a 3-2 win at home in on March 29, 2021, and a wild 15-13 shooting victory in Stanford on April 18 of last season
• It is the first time that the Hornets have won back-to-back games in the series with the Cardinal since 2004 and 2005
• Tuesday marks the sixth time in the last seven meetings that the two schools will play at Sunken Diamond — three of those seven coming in the NCAA Tournament in both 2017 and 2019
• Last year's victory at Stanford snapped a four-game skid on the road for the Hornets in the series

CONFERENCE CALL…
• Tuesday's game against the Cardinal marks the third Pac-12 opponent for the Hornets this season: Sacramento State fell at California, 3-1, on Feb. 27 and split a pair of midweek contests against No. 17 Oregon on April 9 (W, 15-8) and April 10 (L, 11-4)
• The Hornets are 94-173 against the current Pac-12 baseball alignment
• The 18 wins in the series against Stanford are the most by Sacramento State against any one Pac-12 school followed by 17 wins over Washington State, 16 against California, and 15 against Oregon State
• After Tuesday's game, the Hornets have two more games remaining against Pac-12 opponents: April 19 and 21 at USC

MIDWEEK MADNESS…
• Tuesday's game against Stanford marks the 12th midweek game for Sacramento State this season
• The Hornets have won three of their last four midweek contests after splitting with No. 17 Oregon last week, a run that included victories over San Francisco (7-1) and Nevada (7-3) on April 1 and 2, respectively
• Sacramento State is a combined 5-6 in its previous 11 midweek contests, adding wins over Fresno State (Feb. 21) and Nevada (March 19)
• Five of the Hornets' 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 on Feb. 21 while falling at California (3-1 on Feb. 27), against Fresno State (5-4 on March 12), at Pacific (3-2 on March 20), and at UC Davis (3-2 on March 26)

LOOKING AHEAD…
• The Hornets are on their bye week when it comes to Western Athletic Conference play as they will follow up Tuesday's game at Stanford with a trip to Southern California for three games
• Sacramento State will sandwich a pair of games against host USC on Friday (April 19) and Sunday (April 21) around a Saturday (April 20) game against Santa Clara
• All three games will be played at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif., due to construction at USC's Dedeaux Field (Details)
• First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, with a 1 p.m. start on Sunday
• Please note the time change for Saturday's game against the Broncos as that game has been moved off its originally announced 1 p.m. start time

HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• Sacramento State enters Tuesday's game have won three straight and seven of its last 10 over the last two weeks
• The Hornets swept a three-game series on the road at Seattle U over the weekend — their first WAC series sweep since taking all three from Utah Tech to close out the 2023 campaign
• Sacramento State was 4-1 last week when you include the split with No. 17 Oregon, nearly doubling up the Ducks and Redhawks in the run column, 50-27, for the week
• The 31 runs in the series with Seattle U were the most since they scored 36 in that series with the Trailblazers
• The Hornets put up four-or-more runs in an inning three times over the weekend: a four-run seventh in the opener and a pair of five-run eighth innings in the first and third games
• With those performances, Sacramento State improved to 10-1 in games in which they score at least four runs in an inning
• Sophomore Jorge Bojorquez tied his career high with four runs scored in the opener against Seattle U, setting a school career record with 143 runs scored to pass Derrick Chung (2008-12) and Matt Smith (2016, 2018-21) for the top spot
• Junior Matt Masciangelo was hit by a pitch for the 18th time this season in game two of the series with the Redhawks, moving him into a tie for fourth on the school's single-season list with Gary Johnson's 2006 total
• Masciangelo is now just one shy of the school single-season record of 19 shared by Dan Vetter (1995), Carlos Morales (2000), and Buddy Morales (2006), as well as standing nine shy of the career top 10
• Sacramento State slugged seven home runs in its three-game sweep of Seattle U — the most in a three-game series by the Hornet hitters since they slugged nine at California Baptist on May 12-14 last season
• Five different hitters accounted for the seven home runs, including two each from Bojorquez and JP Smith and the first collegiate home run by freshman Cameron Sewell — whose eighth inning grand slam in the series finale broke a 4-4 tie
• Sewell's slam was the second by a Hornet this year, joining Jose Ruiz's blast against Nevada on March 19
• Sewell accounted for two game-winning RBI over the weekend as his RBI fielder's choice plated the eventual winning run in game two against Seattle, followed by his grand slam
• 21 of the Hornets' 39 home runs this year have been of the solo variety
• Sophomore catcher Jacob Cortez enters Tuesday having reached base safely in each of his last eight games
• Cortez has hit safely in six of those contests while drawing a pair of walks in the other two
• During that stretch, Cortez is batting .400 (10-for-25) with four runs scored, a pair of doubles, and seven RBI
• Senior Gunner Gouldsmith has also set the table for the Hornet offense atop the batting order, entering Tuesday with a six-game hitting streak
• Gouldsmith is batting .348 (8-for-23) with six runs scored, six walks, and six RBI to go along with a double and a home run
• Gouldsmith has gone without a hit in a game only six times in 38 starts with a team-high 12 multi-hit contests
• Sophomore JP Smith has a six-game hitting streak of his own, batting .292 (7-for-24) in that stretch to go along with eight runs scored (scoring at least one in all six games), a pair of home runs, and four RBI as well as four walks
• Smith's 15 home runs this year are tied for the ninth-most in a single season in school history, matching Gabe Jacobo's 2008 total
• Smith, now with 29 home runs of his career, is tied for seventh on the school's career list alongside Jacobo and stands one back of teammate Cesar Valero, Steven Moretto (2018-22), Chris Kinsey (2001-03), and Will Fitzpatrick (1990-93) for third
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons tossed his third straight "quality start" in the series-opening win over the Redhawks, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out two
• It was his fourth "quality start" of the year and the ninth of his career, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced while allowing only a walk in that stretch
• In his last three starts, Gibbons has posted a 1.64 ERA and a .171 average against (12-for-70) over 22 innings
• A day later, junior right-hander Tyler Stewart carried a perfect game into the sixth and finished with 6 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball, allowing just two hits and striking out five over a career-high eight innings
• It was Stewart's fourth "quality start" of the year
• Sophomore reliever Xavier Richards extended his scoreless streak to 8.0 innings with a scoreless 2.2 innings of work on Sunday against Seattle U, a run of five appearances dating back to the eighth inning against Abilene Christian on March 22
• Richards has allowed only three runs on 19 hits — only four of those for extra bases — over his last 22.0 innings (12 appearances) while striking out 27 against five walks
• Richards has posted a 1.23 ERA in that stretch while holding opposing hitters to a .238 (19-for-80) average
• Junior left-hander Noah Lucchesi is tied for second in the WAC for the fewest walks allowed (4) and has allowed only three earned runs total over his last 16.2 innings (11 appearances)
• He has posted a 1.62 ERA and held opponents to a .250 average (16-for-64) in that span, while collecting 17 of his 19 strikeouts

HORNETS IN THE WAC (as of April 15)…
Hitting
• JP SMITH - 11th in slugging (.601); t5th in runs scored (30); t2nd in RBI (34); 1st in home runs (15); t2nd in total bases (89); 12th in runs per game (0.81); 1st in home runs per game (0.41); 5th in RBI per game (0.92)
• MATT MASCIANGELO - 12th in on-base percentage (.432); t10th in doubles (10); 1st in hit by pitch (18)
• GUNNER GOULDSMITH - t2nd in hits (50); 7th in hits per game (1.32)
• CESAR VALERO - t4th in doubles (13); t9th in walks (20); 8th in doubles per game (0.34)
• ELIE KLIGMAN - t7th in walks (21)

Pitching
• KADE BROWN - t3rd in opposing batting average (.181); t11th in strikeouts (40); 2nd in saves (5); t5th in appearances (15); t5th fewest hits allowed (19); 2nd in strikeouts per 9 innings (12.56); 4th in fewest hits allowed per game (5.97)
• TYLER STEWART - 11th in opposing batting average (.226); 6th in innings (50.0); 7th in walks per 9 innings (1.80); 11th in fewest hits allowed per game (7.56)
• EVAN GIBBONS - 9th in innings (47.1)
• COOPER RONS - t4th in wins (4); 10th in strikeouts per 9 innings (12.56)
• XAVIER RICHARDS - t2nd in appearances (16); t6th fewest runs allowed (9); t9th fewest walks allowed (6); 12th in strikeouts per 9 innings (12.56); 13th in walks per 9 innings (2.16)
• ANDREW MONSON - t5th in appearances (15)
• ANDREW OVERLAND - t5th fewest hits allowed (19); t11th fewest runs allowed (11)
• NOAH LUCCHESI - t11th fewest hits allowed (20); t6th fewest runs allowed (9); t2nd fewest walks allowed (4); 8th in walks per 9 innings (1.86)

HORNETS IN THE NCAA (as of April 15 / top 100 only)…
Team
• 31st in double plays (30)
• 67th in double plays per game (0.79)
• 70th in ERA (5.02)
• 70th in hit by pitch (55)
• 97th in sacrifice flies (16)
• 12th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.80)
• 29th in WHIP (1.37)
• 7th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.05)

Player
• CESAR VALERO - 58th in doubles (13)
• MATT MASCIANGELO - 6th in hit by pitch (18); 11th in hit by pitch per game (0.51)
• GUNNER GOULDSMITH - 92nd in hits (50); 63rd in toughest to strikeout (10.1)
• JP SMITH - 11th in home runs (15); 37th in home runs per game (0.41)
• KADE BROWN - 37th in saves (5)
• TYLER STEWART - 52nd in WHIP (1.04); 63rd in walks allowed per nine innings (1.80)