IRVINE, Calif. — Sophomore Jaxon Byrd slugged his first career home run in the sixth inning to give his team the lead and the Hornets tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth as the Sacramento State baseball team opened its weekend with a come-from-behind 6-3 victory over host USC on Friday night at OC Great Park in Irvine, Calif.
The win moved the Hornets to 19-21 overall, picking up their sixth win in their last eight outings and their first-ever over the Trojans. USC fell to 18-20 overall with the loss.
Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons (3-4) picked up the win thanks to his fourth straight — and fifth overall — "quality start" of the season, allowing just the two runs on five hits over six innings of work, striking out a pair without a walk. Gibbons is now 3-1 in his last four starts with a 1.93 ERA and 17 hits allowed over 28 innings of work
Sophomore Xavier Richards and senior Max Pettey then paved the way for freshman closer Kade Brown, who pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out one, en route to his sixth save of the year.
Just three days after collecting his first career multi-hit game with a pair of doubles at Stanford on Tuesday (April 16), Byrd shined at the plate once again, finishing a career-best 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and three RBI — all of the latter coming on one swing.
Both Gunner Gouldsmith and Jacob Cortez finished with two hits apiece — the former extending his hitting streak to eight and the latter reaching base safely for the ninth consecutive game thanks to his fourth multi-hit game in the last seven.
An RBI single in the fourth by the Trojans' Ryan Jackson staked the home team to an early lead, but the Hornets answered back in the very next inning, loading the bases with no outs and scoring on a ground ball to tie the game. Brayden Dowd gave USC the lead back with a sacrifice fly in the home half before Byrd gave his team the lead for good.
A one-out walk to JP Smith put one on and the inning was extended thanks to a throwing error on a ground ball hit by Jorge Bojorquez that should have ended the frame. That gave Byrd a chance and the sophomore did not miss, falling behind in the count 0-2 before launching a ball into the night over the right field fence for a 4-2 lead.
The blast marked the fifth consecutive game that the Hornets have homered, hitting nine total in that stretch.
USC got back to within a run in the home half of the seventh as Dowd walked with one out, stole second, and moved to third on an error. That brought up Dean Capentier, who singled to left to bring Dowd home and make it 4-3.
The Trojans kept the pressure on in the inning, as a single and another miscue put the go-ahead run in scoring position, but Pettey entered in relief for the Hornets and got his team out of a jam with a big strikeout to end the inning and maintain the lead.
Pettey then pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning before Sacramento State put together a pair of insurance runs in the ninth to cap the scoring. A lead-off triple by freshman Cameron Sewell set the table for Gouldsmith, whose double to the wall in right centerfield easily scored the fifth run of the night for the Hornets.
A sacrifice by Matt Masciangelo moved Gouldsmith to third and Tyler White was intentionally walked to put runners at the corners for Smith, whose fly ball to center was enough to score Gouldsmith for the final 6-3 margin.
Brown then set USC down in order in the ninth, getting a pop-up, a ground ball, and a strikeout to end the game.
Sacramento State takes on Santa Clara in a neutral site affair on Saturday (April 20) in its second game of the weekend. First pitch is scheduled for one hour after the conclusion of the Trojans-Broncos contest that begins at 2 p.m.
