SACRAMENTO — The bye week from Western Athletic Conference play continues for the Sacramento State baseball team, which heads to Southern California this weekend for three games to close out a stretch of nine straight on the road. The Hornets face host USC twice, opening against the Trojans on Friday (April 19) at 6:30 p.m., and closing the weekend on Sunday (April 21) at 1 p.m. In between, Sacramento State takes on Santa Clara on Saturday (April 20) at 6 p.m.
All three games will be played at OC Great Park in Irvine, Calif., due to construction at USC's Dedeaux Field. Please note the time change for Saturday's game against the Broncos, which was originally set for 1 p.m.
PLAY BALL!
WHAT: Sacramento State (18-21) at USC (18-19) & vs. Santa Clara (18-16)
WHEN: Friday-Sunday, April 19-21, 2024
TIME: 6:30 PM / 6 PM / 1 PM
WHERE: Irvine, Calif.
STADIUM: OC Great Park
FOLLOW:
Game 1 vs. USC - Pac-12 Network Live Stream | Live Stats
Game 2 vs. Santa Clara - Live Stats
Game 3 vs. USC - Pac-12 Network Live Stream | Live Stats
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | USC | Santa Clara | Western Athletic Conference
PROBABLE STARTERS:
FRIDAY (vs. USC): RHP Evan Gibbons (2-4, 4.56 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Stromsborg (2-6, 4.95 ERA)
SATURDAY (vs. Santa Clara): RHP Tyler Stewart (3-2, 3.24 ERA) vs. TBA
SUNDAY (vs. USC): RHP Ian Winterhalder (1-1, 7.46 ERA) vs. RHP William Watson (1-0, 3.32 ERA)
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
• Both of this weekend's games against USC will be streamed live on the school's Pac-12 Network live stream. Saturday's game against Santa Clara will NOT be streamed
• Links to the live stream and live stats for all three games are available on the baseball schedule page at HornetSports.com
ABOUT THE TROJANS
• USC enters the weekend with an 18-19 overall record and a 10-7 mark in Pac-12 play, good for fifth in the league standings
• After dropping 2-of-3 in a Pac-12 series against No. 18 Oregon, the Trojans split a pair of midweek contests, falling to San Diego, 3-2, before routing No. 17 UC Irvine, 12-4
• Prior to that, USC had won five straight, including a home sweep of conference rival Washington and wins over UC San Diego and UC Irvine
• Due to the construction at their home field, the Trojans have split their home games between three different fields: OC Great Park in Irvine, Calif., Page Stadium on the campus of LMU, and Cicerone Field on the campus of UC Irvine
• Combined, USC is 11-6 in home games this year, including a 7-5 record at OC Great Park
• Sophomore catcher Jacob Galloway leads the offense with a .331 average to go with 28 runs scored, 10 doubles, five home runs, and 29 RBI
• Sophomore Austin Overn leads the team with six home runs and has scored a team-high 41 runs while going 12-for-16 in stolen bases on the year
• All together, the Trojans are hitting .259 as a team, outscoring opponents by a 211-193 count
• The Hornets are scheduled to face RHP Tyler Stromsborg (2-6, 4.95 ERA) on Friday and RHP William Watson (1-0, 3.32 ERA) on Sunday
• As a staff, USC sports a 4.50 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP, striking out 311 over 326.1 innings and holding opposing hitters to a .249 average.
SERIES NOTES
• Sacramento State and USC have faced each other on the diamond only once, with the Trojans posting an 8-7 win last year on March 3 as part of the Southern California College Baseball Classic that also featured games against nationally ranked UCLA and Tulane
• The Hornets led the game 7-5 in the fifth following a five-run inning, but the Trojans scored three times in the seventh to post the comeback win
• The game also featured the first collegiate home run for JP Smith among the team's nine hits
ABOUT THE BRONCOS
• Santa Clara enters the weekend with an 18-16 record and a 6-6 mark in the West Coast Conference for a tie for fifth place
• The Broncos will face USC on Saturday (April 20) at 2 p.m., before staying on the field to take on the Hornets at approximately 6 p.m.
• Santa Clara dropped a midweek game at Cal Poly on Tuesday by a 9-3 score after sweeping a WCC series from Pepperdine at home over the weekend by the scores of 9-1, 6-3, and 13-3
• Saturday's game against the Hornets will officially be the Broncos' first neutral site game of the year, but they are 7-10 away from the friendly confines of Stephen Schott Stadium
• Senior outfielder JonJon Berring leads the offense with a .345 average, scoring 33 runs to go with 10 doubles, six home runs and 21 RBI
• Senior infielder Efrain Manzo is the only other Bronco regular batting better than .300 on the year, hitting .303 with 33 runs scored, a team-high eight home runs and 30 RBI
• As a team, Santa Clara is batting a collective .269 with a .778 OPS, outscoring opponents 213-190
• On the mound, the Broncos' pitching staff has posted a 4.90 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP, striking out 289 hitters in 307 innings and holding opponents to a .268 average
• Possible starters for Santa Clara, which plays only on Saturday, include LHP Brandon Gomez (2-1, 4.08 ERA) or RHP Blake Hammond (1-2, 4.46 ERA)
SERIES NOTES
• Santa Clara leads the all-time series with Sacramento State by a 53-29 count, including a 35-21 advantage in the Hornets' Division I history
• Saturday marks the first meeting between the two programs since they split a four-game series in Santa Clara in March of 2021
• The Hornets and the Broncos met every year from 2018-21 after having not met since 2008
CONFERENCE CALL
• This weekend's games against USC mark the fourth Pac-12 opponent for the Hornets this season
• Sacramento State fell at California, 3-1, on Feb. 27, split a pair of midweek contests against No. 17 Oregon on April 9 (W, 15-8) and April 10 (L, 11-4), and fell to Stanford (12-8) on Tuesday (April 16)
• The last eight games against Pac-12 opponents have all been on the road (2-6 record) as the Hornets have not hosted a league member since a 3-2 win over Stanford on March 29, 2021
• The Hornets are 94-174 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
• Sacramento State is 3-3 against West Coast Conference schools this year, posting a 1-2 record against LMU on opening weekend, 1-1 against Pacific in a pair of midweek games, and 1-0 against San Francisco
• The Hornets are 280-300-4 against WCC schools, including 6-4 in their last 10
NEEDED THREE, GOT FOUR
• Senior Jorge Bojorquez stands alone atop the school's runs scored list, tying a career high with four runs scored in the opener at Seattle U and breaking the career record previously shared by Derrick Chung (2008-12) and Matt Smith (2016, 2018-21)
CYCLE SEEKING
• Junior catcher Elie Kligman's big night at Stanford had him within striking distance of hitting for the cycle, finishing 3-for-3 with his second home run of the year and a fourth-inning double
• He is the fourth Hornet to come close to a cycle this year -- three of those missing only the triple
• Junior Matt Masciangelo was the first, finishing 3-for-4 against Pacific on March 3, missing out on the home run
• Sophomore JP Smith followed on March 10 against Utah Valley, finishing 3-for-5 minus the triple
• Senior Jorge Bojorquez was next at Grand Canyon on March 28, finishing 3-for-5 needing only a triple
CROOKED NUMBERS
• A seven-run first at No. 17 Oregon and three more innings with crooked numbers at Seattle U last weekend had the Hornet offense humming, outscoring both opponents by a 50-27 count
• The seven runs were the second-highest single-inning total by Sacramento State this year (10 in the second inning against Nevada on March 19)
• It was also the highest-scoring first inning since it put up eight runs in the opening frame of a 16-13 loss at Tarleton State on March 13, 2021
• When the Hornets have a "big inning" (four runs or more) they have "big success" as they are 10-1 in games in which they score four-or-more runs in a single frame this year
YARD WORK
• Thanks to Kligman's home run on Tuesday at Stanford, the Hornets have now homered in four straight games, collecting eight total in that span
• Sacramento State, which ranks fourth in the WAC with 40 home runs as a team, has hit at least one home run in 23 of its 39 games this year, including multiple home runs in 10 of those contests
• The Hornets have slugged a season-high four home runs in a game three times: against Fresno State (Feb. 21), against UC Davis (March 5), and in the series finale at Seattle U (April 14)
• Of the Hornets' 40 home runs this year, 22 have been of the solo variety
OUT FOR A WALK
• Bojorquez ranks tied for fourth on the school's career walks list with 99, just one free pass shy of becoming only the fourth Hornet with 100 in a career: Keith Torres (140 from 2018-22), Kenny Smallcomb (105 in 1981-82), and Will Fitzpatrick (103 in 1990-93)
STRIKING GOULD
• Senior Gunner Gouldsmith has set the table atop the Hornets' lineup, entering the weekend on a seven-game hitting streak
• Gouldsmith is batting .333 (9-for-27) with six runs scored, seven walks, and eight RBI to go along with two doubles and a home run
• The senior has gone without a hit in a game only six times in 39 starts with a team-high 12 multi-hit contests
• He has also driven in a run in each of the team's last three games and five times overall during his current hit streak
• His 51 hits this season rank second in the WAC entering the weekend and are a personal single-season career high (previously 38 in 2023)
• His 12 multi-hit games are tied for the most on the team with classmate Jorge Bojorquez
• His 18-game hitting streak earlier in the year from Feb. 27 - March 26 is tied for the seventh-longest recorded streak in school history along with Derek Brown (1994) and Blake Crosby (2009)
COUNT ON CORTEZ
• Sophomore catcher Jacob Cortez enters the weekend having reached base safely in each of his last eight
• Cortez has hit safely in six of those games, 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
WE HAVE COME TO PRAISE CESAR
• Senior Cesar Valero enters the weekend having reached base safely in each of his last eight games
• He has been a run-scoring machine in that stretch, scoring 11 runs -- including at least one in the first seven games of the streak
• Valero has hit safely in five of the contests -- including three of his team-high 13 doubles -- while drawing five walks and hit by a pitch twice
• His home run against California Baptist on April 6 marked the 30th of his career, moving hm into a tie for third on the all-time list with Steven Moretto (2018-22), Chris Kinsey (2001-03), and Will Fitzpatrick (1990-93)
• Valero is five shy of the career record of 35 shared by Harvey Hargrove (1995-97) and Martin Vincelli-Simard (2019-23)
WALK IN THE PARK
• Kligman has drawn a walk in 12 of his last 14 games (including a run of nine straight) and leads the Hornets with 22 free passes
• His 22 walks rank tied for seventh in the WAC heading into the weekend, seven off the lead of Tarleton State's Cole Miears
• Kligman has reached base safely in 14 of his last 15 games, hitting safely in 12 of those contests
MASCIANGEL-OW!
• It's been a while since we had news about a Masciangelo bruise to report, but the junior was plunked for the 18th time this year in the second game of the series at Seattle U
• His 18 HBPs are ranked sixth in the nation behind Northeastern's Luke Beckstein (25)
• Masciangelo's total is tied for fourth on the school's single-season list along with Gary Johnson (2006), and is one shy of the record shared by Buddy Morales (2006), Carlos Morales (2000) and Dan Vetter (1995)
• Masciangelo enters the weekend leading the WAC, standing five ahead of Abilene Christian's Maddox Miesse and Utah Valley's Luke Iverson
• He has reached base safely in 30 of his 33 starts
• Masciangelo had quite a debut in the green and gold after being hit by a pitch in eight of his first nine plate appearances during the Hornets' opening weekend
• He was hit three times in the opener against LMU, four more times in game two, and was plunked in his first appearance in the finale
• His four HBP's in game two set a program Division I single-game record
• The performance gained national attention with the video of his first seven HBPs garnering close to 10 million views on social media
SLAMMIN' CAM SEWELL
• After a career four-hit day in the opener at No. 17 Oregon on April 9, freshman Cameron Sewell saved, perhaps, his most dramatic performance for the series finale at Seattle U on April 14
• Sewell's first career home run turned out to be a grand slam, one that broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth and helped lift the Hornets to an 8-5 win
• It was the second grand slam by a Sacramento State hitter this year, joining Jose Ruiz's blast against Nevada on March 19 at home
• The slam was the second game-winning RBI for Sewell on the weekend after his RBI fielder's choice pushed across the winning run in game two of the series
HORNETS HITTING IN BUNCHES
• With 15 hits in the opener at Seattle U and 10 more at Stanford on Tuesday, the Hornets collected their 16th double-digit hit total in their last 25 games
• Prior to that, Sacramento State had 10-or-more hits only three times in its previous 14 contests
• The 19 hits in the opener at No. 17 Oregon on April 9 were a season high, surpassing the previous high of 17 against Nevada and the most since they had 22 against Pacific on May 16 of last season
• Sacramento State enters the weekend ranked third in the WAC in hits (343) behind Grand Canyon (395)
SMITH SMASHING
• Thanks to a pair of home runs in the final two games of the series at Seattle U, sophomore JP Smith enters the weekend with 15 home runs on the year -- just two off Martin Vincelli-Simard's team-leading total of 17 last year
• His home run in game two against the Redhawks was his first since hitting a pair on March 22 against Abilene Christian
• The 15 home runs are tied for ninth on the school's single-season list alongside Gabe Jacobo's 2008 total
• Combined with his 14 home runs from last season, Smith's 29 career home runs are tied for seventh on the school's all-time list with Jacobo
• Smith's 15 home runs this season are 1st in the WAC and No. 15 in the NCAA
• Should Smith end the year atop the WAC leaderboard for home runs, he would become only the third Hornet to lead the league, joining a pair of Major Leaguers: Rhys Hoskins (12 in 2014) and James Outman (11 in 2018)
EXTRA, EXTRA!
• Thanks to four doubles on Tuesday at Stanford, the Hornets have collected an extra base hit in all but three games this year
• Sacramento State's 115 combined extra-base hits ranks fourth in the WAC behind Utah Valley (157), California Baptist (131), and Grand Canyon (125)
WALK THIS WAY... OR DON'T
• The Hornets' pitching staff has allowed the second fewest walks in the WAC this season (116) and averages only 3.06 walks per nine innings
• The latter also ranks No. 7 in the NCAA entering the weekend
STRIKE THAT
• The Hornets' pitching staff enters the weekend ranked third in the WAC in total strikeouts (324) and fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (8.53)
• Sacramento State's staff also ranks 14th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.79)
QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons and junior right-hander Tyler Stewart have become quite the 1-2 punch on the mound for the Hornets
• The duo followed their back-to-back "quality starts" against California Baptist with much of the same at Seattle U last weekend, each notching their fourth such starts of the year
• For Gibbons, it was his ninth career "quality start" over the past two years after he finished with five such performances in 2023
• Gibbons went seven innings, allowing just two runs on five hits, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters he faced while allowing only a walk in that stretch
• A day later, 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
GIBB AND TAKE
• Gibbons has been stellar over his last three starts, posting a 2-1 record with a 1.64 ERA and a .171 average against (12-for-70) over 22 innings
• His only loss in that stretch was a 1-0 defeat to California Baptist, allowing just one run on four hits over eight innings and striking out six
• In the start before that, he allowed only one run on three hits over seven innings at league-leading Grand Canyon as part of a 5-4 win
• In the process, the senior from Elk Grove, Calif., has lowered his overall ERA nearly three full runs to 4.56 entering the weekend
TYLER TERRIFIC
• A no-hit bid is just the latest highlight for Tyler Stewart, who has gone at least six innings in three of his last four starts
• He is 2-1 in that stretch with a no-decision in game two against California Baptist, posting a 1.80 ERA and holding opponents to a .188 (16-for-85) average
• Overall, his .226 average against ranks No. 11 in the WAC entering the weekend, while his 3.06 ERA is No. 12 in the league
"X" GONNA GIVE IT TO YA
• Sophomore right-hander Xavier Richards has been a big part of the bullpen's success as of late, extending his scoreless streak to 8.0 innings (five appearances dating back to the eighth inning against Abilene Christian on March 22) thanks to a scoreless 2.2 innings of work in the finale at Seattle U
• He has allowed only three runs on 19 hits -- only four of those going 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 batters to a .238 (19-for-80) average
• In the process, Richards has lowered his ERA by nearly 15 points down to 3.24 on the year
• His 16 appearances this year are tied for third in the WAC
MONSON SEASON
• Junior Andrew Monson has emerged as one of the most reliable arms out of the bullpen as of late for the Hornets
• Over the last month (nine appearances), Monson has allowed only three earned runs over the last 9.1 innings for a 2.89 ERA, scattering eight hits, walking three, and striking out 16
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
• Freshman Kade Brown enters the weekend ranked tied for third in the WAC with a .181 average against, while his five saves are second in the conference
• He has allowed only 19 hits in 28.2 innings, ranking tied for fourth in the WAC in fewest hits allowed and hits allowed per nine innings
• His 40 strikeouts are a team-high (and rank tied for 11th in the league) while his 12.56 strikeouts per nine innings are second in the league
6+4+3=2
• Three more double plays turned over the weekend in Seattle gives the Hornets 30 on the year, ranking sixth in the WAC in that category, but only four off the league lead held by California Baptist
• Sacramento State's defense has turned multiple double plays in a game eight times this season, including two in the finale against the Redhawks
• The Hornets rank No. 43 in the NCAA in double plays turned (Michigan and Purdue are tied for the lead with 42)
