SACRAMENTO — Sacramento State scored early and often to get its Sunday off to a good start, carrying a three-run lead into the ninth before visiting Tarleton State scored five times to rally back and post an 8-6 come-from-behind victory in their Western Athletic Conference series finale at John Smith Field.
The Hornets fell to 21-24 overall on the year and 9-12 in conference play, while the Texans completed the sweep of the series and improved to 25-19 overall and 15-9 in league.
Junior Elie Kligman, sophomore Jaxon Byrd, and senior Jorge Bojorquez all finished with two hits for Sacramento State, with the latter two logging doubles on the play. Senior Cesar Valero finished with two RBI and was one of four Sacramento State hitters to drive in runs.
The day couldn't have started any better for the Hornets, who put up five runs in the first to sprint out to an early lead. Kligman put his team on the board first with a bases-loaded single and Tyler White's ground ball to the left side was enough to drive home a second run for the 2-0 lead.
A wild pitch sent JP Smith barreling to the plate to score a third run and extend the lead before Valero capped the scoring in the inning with a two-run single up the middle for the 5-0 advantage.
It stayed that way until Tarleton State was able to push across a pair in the fourth to make it a three-run game, but the Hornets scratched one of those runs back in the sixth as a walk and a hit batter brought up Gunner Gouldsmith, whose single up the middle played Matt Masciangelo for the 6-2 advantage.
A home run in the half by the Texans cut the deficit to three in the eighth before they found a way to rally with a big ninth inning, sending nine batters to the plate in the frame and scoring five times. The big blow came off the bat of Cris Enriquez, whose two-out two-run single broke a six-all tie and produced the go-ahead runs.
Sacramento State's rally attempt in the home half was cut down, however, as a Bojorquez one-out single was quickly erased after a line-out double play ended the game.
Kade Brown (2-3) suffered the loss, charged with five runs on three hits and a pair of walks without recording an out in the ninth. Parrish Beagle (2-0) earned the win in relief, allowing a walk and a hit in the eighth before giving way to Jack Driskell in the ninth, who recorded his fourth save of the year.
The Hornets host UC Davis on Tuesday (April 30) at 6 p.m. in their penultimate midweek game of the year following that up with a trip to Texas for a three-game weekend series at conference rival UT Arlington on May 3-5.
