IRVINE, Calif. — Freshman right-hander Kade Brown stranded the tying run at third in the bottom of the ninth inning, getting the final seven outs of the game to notch his seventh save of the season and help the Sacramento State baseball team defeat host USC, 5-4, on Sunday afternoon at the OC Great Park in Irvine, Calif.
Now having won eight of their last 10, the Hornets improved to 21-21 overall on the season and posted their second consecutive unbeaten weekend, sweeping Western Athletic Conference rival Seattle U on the road last week and taking a pair from the Trojans and a single game from Santa Clara this weekend in Southern California.
USC fell to 19-21 overall with the loss.
Brown entered the game in the seventh in relief of Max Pettey and stranded a runner, getting the first of his three strikeouts on the day to end the inning after the Trojans had clawed back to within a run. He then pitched a perfect eighth and got a strikeout to start the ninth before a walk put the tying run on base.
A passed ball moved the runner to second and a fly ball put the tying run 90 feet away before Brown buckled down and got ahead in the count 1-2. His next pitch got the USC hitter to swing and catcher Elie Kligman threw on to first to record the final out of the game.
Xavier Richards (3-0) was credited with the win in relief of starter Ian Winterhalder, allowing an unearned run on one hit over 1.1 innings of work. All told, the Hornet pitchers combined to strand 10 Trojan baserunners on the day — seven of those in scoring position.
A wild pitch in the second scored sophomore JP Smith for the first run of the game and Sacramento State tacked on three more in the fourth, loading the bases on singles by Smith and Matt Masciangelo and a walk to Jorge Bojorquez. Cesar Valero then roped a two-run single to centerfield and was quickly followed by Cameron Sewell, who dropped a single into right centerfield for the 4-0 lead.
Two errors in the home half of the fourth extended the inning for the Trojans, who pushed across their first run of the game on the second miscue to break up the shutout. USC then made it a one-run game with two more in the fifth on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to 4-3.
Sewell struck again in the sixth to rebuild the Hornets' lead to two as walks to Bojorquez and Valero put two on for the freshman, who singled to right centerfield for a 5-3 advantage.
The Trojans weren't done, however, as a one-out double by Brayden Dowd was cashed in by Dean Carpentier to make it 5-4 and set up the late-inning drama.
Sacramento State does not have a midweek game this week, instead returning to the diamond to open a three-game series against conference rival Tarleton State on Friday (April 26) at 4 p.m.
