SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento State baseball team closes out a run of four straight at home with its penultimate midweek game of the year, hosting Causeway rival UC Davis for the second time this season on Tuesday (April 30) at 6 p.m. at John Smith Field.

PLAY BALL!
WHAT: UC Davis (18-23) at Sacramento State (21-24)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
TIME: 6 p.m.
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: HornetStats.com
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
GAME NOTES: UC Davis | Western Athletic Conference

SCOUTING THE AGGIES…
• UC Davis enters the week with an 18-23 overall record and a 5-13 mark in Big West Conference play, standing ninth in the league
• The Aggies finished 1-3 last week, winning a midweek contest at Saint Mary's (9-3) before being swept on the road at Cal Poly in a Big West series by the scores of 3-2, 8-3, and 13-6
• UC Davis is 8-14 away from home this season, losing six of its last 10 away from the friendly confines of Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium
• Junior outfielder/catcher Riley Acosta leads all regulars with a .288 average, scoring 19 runs, slugging eight doubles to go with two home runs, and driving in 13
• Senior outfielder Damian Stone leads the team with six home runs and 25 RBI while batting .258 on the year
• As a team, the Aggies are batting a collective .247 with 25 home runs and a .680 OPS, while being outscored by a 244-204 count on the year
• UC Davis' pitching staff has posted a 5.32 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP, striking out 268 hitters over 365.1 innings of work while opponents are hitting .289 against the staff

SERIES NOTES…
• Tuesday marks the third — and final — regular season meetings between the two programs this season
• One of the longest-running series in school history, Sacramento State leads the all-time series with UC Davis by a 144-92-1 count, including a 46-38 lead as Division I rivals
• The Aggies have won two straight — and three of the last four — in the series, posting wins this season by the scores of 10-5 on March 5 in Sacramento and 3-2 on March 26 in Davis
• By virtue of that "series win," UC Davis will host two of the three meetings between the two schools in 2025
• The Hornets are 88-38 at home against the Aggies in the series according to record dating back to 1950, with Sacramento State winning five of the last six at John Smith Field
• Sacramento State has won six of the last nine in the series and 25 of the last 31 dating back to 2009
• The Hornets are 1-4 against Big West Conference opponents this year after going 1-2 against then-No. 22 UC Santa Barbara at the end of February and 0-2 against UC Davis

MIDWEEK MADNESS…
• Tuesday's game against UC Davis marks the 13th midweek game of the year for Sacramento State, which did not play a midweek game prior to its series against Tarleton State last weekend
• The Hornets are 5-7 in their previous 12 midweek contests with wins over Fresno State (Feb. 21), Nevada (March 19), San Francisco (April 1), the Wolf Pack again (April 2), and No. 17 Oregon (April 9)
• Five of Sacramento State's midweek games have been decided by two runs or fewer — three of those decided by a single run
• The Hornets have only one more midweek game remaining: May 7 against Nevada at home
• Either Sacramento State or its opponent has scored 10-or-more runs in each of the last three midweek games
• The Hornets have faced opponents from the Mountain West (3-1), Pac-12 (1-3), Big West (0-2), and West Coast Conference (1-1) in midweek games this year

LOOKING AHEAD…
• Following Tuesday's game against UC Davis, the Hornets hit the road for a three-game Western Athletic Conference series in Texas, taking on UT Arlington on May 3-5
• The Mavericks are in sixth in the WAC standings with a 12-9 record, holding a three-game lead on the Hornets, who are holding on to the eighth spot with a 9-12 record
• The top eight teams in the standings qualify for the WAC Tournament in Mesa, Ariz., on May 21-25

HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• The 14-inning game in the series opener against Tarleton State last week is tied for the sixth-longest game in school history according to available records and the longest since the Hornets went 15 innings on May. 26, 2018, against New Mexico State
• In terms of time, the four-hour, 12-minute marathon was the longest since Sacramento State and San Jose State played 4:19 on May 19, 2022, and was the longest of the 2024 season by a minute, surpassing the 11-inning game against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 16
• Junior Matt Masciangelo now stands alone atop the school's single-season list for being hit by a pitch, setting the new mark with his 20th of the season in the series opener and tacking on two more for good measure in Sunday's finale to extend his new mark to 22
• He now stands just five HBPs shy of breaking into the school's all-time top 10
• Dating back to the Hornets' game at Stanford on April 16, sophomore Jaxon Byrd has posted hits in six of his last seven games, including the first five multi-hit contests of his career
• Byrd had a hit in all three games against Tarleton State last weekend and is batting .480 (12-for-25) with six runs, five RBI, and six extra-base hits during that seven-game stretch — including the first two home runs of his career against USC (April 19) and the Texans (April 26)
• Sophomore catcher Jacob Cortez has reached base safely in each of his last 12 games dating back to the series finale at Grand Canyon on March 28, hitting safely in 10 of those contests
• Over that 12-game stretch, Cortez is batting .375 (15-for-40), scoring six runs, driving in eight, and walking five times
• Senior Jorge Bojorquez has also done his part, reaching base safely in his last 10 games over the last three weeks, hitting safely in seven of those — including a pair of three-hit performances
• In that span, Bojorquez is hitting .351 (13-for-37), scoring 12 runs and driving in seven, while walking five times
• Bojorquez finished 6-for-14 (.429) at the plate in the series against Tarleton State, with his six hits giving him 214 for this career and moving him into ninth on the school's career list — one back of Dawsen Bacho (2017-22) for eighth and 12 behind David Flores for seventh
• Likewise, senior Gunner Gouldsmith has set the table for the Hornet offense, collecting hits in 12 of his last 13 games (16 total), adding on 10 runs scored, five doubles, 11 RBI, and nine walks
• Sacramento State's five-run first inning in the series finale against Tarleton State marked the 18th time this season over 13 games that the Hornets have scored four-or-more runs in a single innings this season, but the first time the Hornets have lost one of those games since the second game of a doubleheader against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 16 on opening weekend
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons tossed his fifth consecutive "quality start" in the series opener against Tarleton State — his sixth overall this year and the 11th such start of his career
• In that stretch, he is 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA, 20 strikeouts against only five walks, and a .156 (21-for-135) average against over 34.1 innings of work
• After notching a pair of hitless, scoreless appearances over the weekend, sophomore right-hander Xavier Richards collected his league-leading 19th and 20th appearances of the year
• Richards has allowed only four earned runs on 22 hits — only four of those going extra bases — over his last 29.1 innings (16 appearances) while striking out 32 against only 10 walks
• He has a 1.23 ERA in that span, while holding opposing hitters to a .206 (22-for-107) average
• Richards' 2.78 ERA is seventh in the WAC
• Senior right-hander Cooper Rons has also been stingy as of late, allowing just one run over his last six appearances (11.0 innings), posting a 0.82 ERA and a .179 (7-for-39) average against, striking out 11 while walking only two

HORNETS IN THE WAC (as of April 29)…
Hitting
• JP SMITH: 12th in slugging (.566), t9th in runs (35); t8th in RBI (36), t3rd in home runs (16), 7th in total bases (98)
• MATT MASCIANGELO: 11th in on-base percentage (.425), 1st in hit by pitch (22)
• GUNNER GOULDSMITH: 6th in hits (58)
• CESAR VALERO: t9th in doubles (13)
• CAMERON SEWELL: t2nd in triples (2)
• JOSE RUIZ: t2nd in triples (2)

Pitching
• XAVIER RICHARDS: 7th in ERA (2.78), t1st in appearances (20), t4th in fewest runs allowed (11)
• TYLER STEWART: 13th in ERA (3.03), 7th in innings (59.1), 6th in walks per nine innings (1.82)
• KADE BROWN: 1st in opposing batting average (.184), t12th in strikeouts (47), tied for 1st in saves (7), t5th in appearances (19); t5th in fewest hits allowed (23), strikeouts per nine innings (12.44)
• EVAN GIBBONS: 6th in innings (59.2), t12th in strikeouts (47), walks per nine innings (2.11)
• COOPER RONS: t9th in fewest runs allowed (14), strikeouts per nine innings (10.20)

HORNETS IN THE NCAA (as of April 29 / Top 100 only)…
Team
• 64th in double plays (33)
• 85th in double plays per game (0.73)
• 61st in ERA (4.96)
• 86th in hit by pitches (65)
• 95th in hits allowed per nine innings (9.34)
• 15th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.78)
• 28th in WHIP (1.37)
• 5th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.01)

Player
• TYLER STEWART: 92nd in ERA (3.19), 99th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.75), 67th in WHIP (1.11), 45th in walks per nine innings (1.82)
• MATT MASCIANGELO: 8th in hit by pitch per game (0.54), 4th in hit by pitches (22)
• JP SMITH: 38th in home runs (16), 62nd in home runs per game (0.36)
• XAVIER RICHARDS: 82nd in appearances (20)
• KADE BROWN: 18th in saves (7)
• EVAN GIBBONS: 83rd in WHIP (1.14), 87th in walks per nine innings (2.11)