IRVINE, Calif. — Junior right-hander Tyler Stewart allowed just one run and struck out five over five innings of work while the Sacramento State offense erupted for 10 unanswered runs to break open a one-run ballgame, lifting the Hornets to a 12-3 victory over Santa Clara on Saturday night at the OC Great Park in Irvine, Calif.
Winners of seven of its last nine games, Sacramento State improved to 20-21 overall on the season while reaching double-digit runs for the ninth time this season. The Broncos fell to 18-18 overall with the loss.
Stewart (4-2) narrowly missed out on his third-straight "quality start," falling just one inning shy of the mark, but was effective nonetheless, allowing just two baserunners on a single and a walk through the first four innings and holding Santa Clara scoreless until the fifth.
From there, senior Cooper Rons stymied the Bronco bats, allowing just two hits and stranding both in scoring position while striking out three over his three innings of work. Freshman Bryce Stockon entered in the ninth and finished the game.
Meanwhile, the offense was firing on all cylinders, collecting 14 hits — its third straight game with double digits in that category and the most since the Hornets finished with 15 in a win at Seattle U on April 12. Eight of the nine Sacramento State started finished with a hit, five Hornets posted multiple hits on the night, and eight hitters drove in at least one run.
Junior Matt Masciangelo finished 2-for-2 with three RBI and was hit by a pitch for the 19th time this season, tying the school single-season record shared by Dan Vetter (1995), Carlos Morales (2000), and Buddy Morales (2006).
Gunner Gouldsmith, Cameron Sewll, and Tyler White each added two hits atop the Sacramento State order, finishing 6-for-15 with five runs scored and five RBI, while Jaxon Byrd posted his third-straight multi-hit game, driving in a run and walking twice.
The Hornets opened the scoring in the third, putting a pair in scoring position after an error and a double by Brett Ott. Gouldsmith then placed a ground ball to the right side, enough to bring Jacob Cortez home for the 1-0 lead. Sewell then followed with a single to the right centerfield gap three pitches later, easily scoring Ott for the two-run advantage.
Santa Clara halved the lead with a run in the fifth before the Hornets opened the floodgates, scoring the next 10 runs to put the game out of reach.
White followed a double by Gouldsmith with an RBI single to center for a 3-1 lead in the fifth and JP Smith's 16th home run of the season started the scoring in the sixth as Matt Masciangelo tacked on a pinch-hit two-run double for the 6-1 advantage.
Smith's 16 home runs are tied for sixth on the school's single-season list along with Mikela Olsen (2003) Jesse Schmidt (2003), and Chris Kinsey (2002), while his 30 career home runs are tied for third on the all-time chart along with teammate Cesar Valero, Steven Moretto (2018-22), Kinsey (2001-03), and Will Fitzpatrick (1990-93).
Cesar Valero was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh to push across another run before Sacramento State set 12 batters to the plate as part of a five-run eighth inning. Sewell, White, Byrd, Jorge Bojorquez, and Masciangelo — the last coming on the record-tying hit by pitch — all had RBIs in the inning.
The Broncos ended the run with a pair of runs in the ninth, but the game was already in hand.
Thanks to Smith's blast, the Hornets have now slugged home runs in each of their last six games, collecting 10 total in that span, while Gouldsmith's two hits extended his hitting streak to nine straight games. With a hit on Saturday, Jacob Cortez has now reached base safely in each of his last 10 games.
Sacramento State closes out the weekend on Sunday (April 21) at 1 p.m., taking on USC for the second time in three days. The game will be streamed live on the Trojans' Pac-12 Network Live Stream.
