SACRAMENTO — After playing nearly 70 percent of their games-to-date within the friendly confines of John Smith Field, the Sacramento State baseball team opens a season-long stretch of nine consecutive road games this week in Eugene, Ore., traveling to take on No. 17 Oregon in a pair of midweek games at PK Park. First pitch on both Tuesday (April 9) and Wednesday (April 10) is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.

PLAY BALL!
WHAT: Sacramento State (14-19) at No. 17 Oregon (22-8)
WHEN: Tue.-Wed., April 9-10, 2024
TIME: 5:05 PM both days
WHERE: Eugene, Ore.
STADIUM: PK Park
FOLLOW:
Game 1 - Pac-12 Oregon Live Stream | Live Stats
Game 2 - Pac-12 Oregon Live Stream | Live Stats
GAME NOTES: Oregon | Western Athletic Conference

IN THE RANKINGS…
• Aside from their No. 17 ranking by Baseball America, Oregon enters the week also ranked No. 18 by D1 Baseball, No. 19 by the NCBWA, and No. 22 in the USA Today coaches poll

SCOUTING THE DUCKS…
• Oregon enters the week with a 22-8 overall record and an 8-4 mark in the Pac-12
• The Ducks have played 18 of their 30 games at home thus far this season, posting a 13-5 record at PK Park
• Oregon has won seven of its last eight after taking 2-of-3 from conference rival UCLA over the weekend on the road in Los Angeles — the only loss coming in extra innings
• Featuring five regulars batting over .300 for the year, the Ducks are hitting .293 as a team while outscoring opponents by a 221-155 count
• Oregon has also slugged 41 home runs on the season — 10 of those off the bat of newly crowned school record-holder Jacob Walsh, who has also driven in a team-high 31 runs and sports a team-best 1.015 OPS
• As a staff, Oregon's pitchers sport a combined 4.69 ERA and 1.42 WHIP, striking out 297 hitters in 270.1 innings while holding opponents to a .238 average

SERIES NOTES…
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Oregon by a 6-3 count
• This week marks the first meeting between the two schools since a pair of midweek games in Eugene on March 24-25, 2009 — Oregon's first season since dropping the sport 28 years prior
• Those two midweek games were the first played in Oregon according to records dating back to the first recorded meeting between the two schools in 1958
• Prior to that, the two schools hadn't faced one another on the diamond since a 6-4 Ducks victory in 1981 — the last time the two schools played in Sacramento
• The two teams split those 2009 meetings with the Hornets winning the opener, 10-5, and Oregon claiming a 6-4 win in game two

CONFERENCE CALL…
• This week's meetings with the Ducks will be the second against a Pac-12 opponent this year for the Hornets, who fell at California, 3-1, on Feb. 27
• Sacramento State is 93-172 against the current Pac-12 baseball alignment
• The Hornets have lost four of their last five against the conference, last posting a wild 15-13 shootout win at then-No. 9 Stanford on April 18 of last season
• The 18 wins against the Cardinal are the most by Sacramento State against any one Pac-12 school followed by 17 wins over Washington State, 16 against California, and 15 against Oregon State
• After this week's games against Oregon, the Hornets have three more games remaining against Pac-12 opponents: April 16 at Stanford and April 19 and 21 at USC

COMMON GROUND…
• The Ducks and the Hornets have three opponents in common this year
• Oregon and Sacramento State both lost 2-of-3 to UC Santa Barbara
• The Ducks swept a two-game series from Grand Canyon while the Hornets lost 2-of-3 to their conference rivals
• Oregon won two against conference foe California while Sacramento State lost a midweek contest to the Golden Bears on the road

MIDWEEK MADNESS…
• This week's games at Oregon mark the 10th and 11th midweek games for Sacramento State this season
• The Hornets have won their last two midweek games after taking down San Francisco (7-1) and Nevada (7-3) last week
• Sacramento State is a combined 4-5 in its previous nine midweek contests, adding wins over Fresno State (Feb. 21) and Nevada (March 19)
• Five of Sacramento State's previous seven midweek games have been decided by two runs or fewer, downing the Bulldogs, 8-6, in the first meeting of the year between the two while falling at California (3-1 on Feb. 27), against Fresno State (5-4 on March 12), at Pacific (3-2 on March 20), and at UC Davis (3-2 on March 26)

LOOKING AHEAD…
• Following the short stay in Eugene, Ore., the Hornets remain in the Pacific Northwest for a three-game weekend series against Western Athletic Conference rival SeattleU on April 12-14
• First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday, and Noon on Sunday

HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• The Hornets' upcoming run of nine straight road games matched the nine-game swing last year from April 18-May 2 and is the longest since they played 12 straight on the road from March 4-21, 2021
• The 11 runs scored in the series finale against CBU marked the sixth time that the Hornets have scored double-digits this season, improving to 5-1 in those contests
• Sacramento State's seven-inning win over the Lancers marked the team's first run-rule win since a 15-5 triumph in eight innings against SeattleU on April 16, 2022
• The 11 walks issued to Hornet batters on Sunday were a season high and the most since they has 11 against Menlo College on April 3 of last season
• With 10 hits on Sunday, Sacramento State posted its 13th game of double-digit hits in its last 19 contests
• Junior Tyler White has been a welcome addition to the lineup since returning from injury, logging hits in each of his last five games — including multi-hit games in four of those contests — after missing 14 games
• White is batting .526 (10-for-19) with seven runs scored, four walks, and two RBI in that span, which included a three-hit game against San Francisco on April 1 and two hits in each of the three games against California Baptist over the weekend
• White was batting .244 before his injury and has raised his average 84 points to a team-high .328 entering this week's contests
• Senior Cesar Valero hit .313 last week with four runs scored and a team-high seven RBI, including his seventh home run of the year in game two against California Baptist
• The home run was the 30th of Valero's Hornet career, tying him for third on the school's all-time list with Steven Moretto (2018-22), Chris Kinsey (2001-03), and Will Fitzpatrick (1990-93)
• He is now five home runs shy of matching the record shared by Harvey Hargrove (1995-97) and Martin Vincelli-Simard (2019-23)
• Sophomore catcher Jacob Cortez has also heated up as of late, collecting hits in each of his last four games and five of his last six
• Cortez matched his season high with two hits in each of the last two games of the series with CBU and is hitting .462 (6-for-13) during his current hitting streak
• Junior right-hander Ian Winterhalder picked up his first win as a Hornet on Sunday, allowing just an unearned run on two hits over a career-high 4.2 innings
• He also struck out a career-high seven batters in the victory — the second-highest total by a Sacramento State pitcher this year behind only Evan Gibbons' eight strikeouts on March 9
• It was Winterhalder's second start of the week after making his first career start and earning a no-decision with four innings against at Nevada on April 2, allowing just two runs on three hits and striking out two in a 7-3 win
• Senior right-hander Cooper Rons picked up a win and a save in his two appearances last week, throwing a scoreless inning at Nevada and allowing just one hit and striking out two in the final 2.1 innings of Sunday's win over California Baptist
• Sunday marked Rons' second career save and his first since throwing a scoreless inning of relief at Pacific in an 11-8 win on April 10 of last year
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons threw his second straight "quality start" and his third such performance of the season in the opener against CBU, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out six over eight innings
• It was the longest outing by a Hornet starter since Eli Saul (now with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization) went the distance in a win at Grand Canyon on May 6, 2022
• The performance was his eighth career "quality start" after he finished with five such performances in 2023
• Over his last two starts, Gibbons has posted a 1.20 ERA and limited opposing hitters to a .156 average (7-for-45)
• A day later, junior right-hander Tyler Stewart left with a one-run lead after throwing a career-high seven innings against the Lancers, but picked up a no-decision after allowing two runs on five hits and striking out five
• It was the third "quality start" of the year for Stewart and the third time a Hornet starter had pitched at least seven innings in the last two week
• Thanks to those performances, Sacramento State used only six total pitchers the entire weekend — the fewest in a three-game series since the 2018 season against Chicago State when Parker Brahms and Austin Root each threw seven-inning complete games followed by a series finale that saw Scott Randall, Austin Roberts, and Austin Ragsdale combine on a four-hit shutout
• Chalk up another scoreless inning for sophomore right-hander Xavier Richards, who has allowed only three runs on 17 hits (only four of those for extra bases)  over his last 19.1 innings (11 appearances) while striking out 25 against four walks
• He has posted a 1.40 ERA in that stretch, while holding opposing hitters to a .239 (17-for-71) average

HORNETS IN THE WAC (as of April 7)…
Hitting
• JP SMITH - 8th in slugging (.597), t2nd in RBI (30), 1st in home runs (13), 3rd in total bases (77), 1st in home runs per game (0.41), 4th in RBIs per game (0.94)
• MATT MASCIANGELO - 10th in on-base percentage (.443), 1st in hit by pitches (16)
• GUNNER GOULDSMITH - t5th in hits (43), 7th in hits per game (1.30)
• CESAR VALERO - t6th in RBI (28), t3rd in doubles (11), t11th in home runs (7), t7th in doubles per game (0.33), 10th in RBI per game (0.85)
• ELIE KLIGMAN - 6th in walks (20)

Pitching
• KADE BROWN - 5th in opponent batting average (.165), t1st in saves (5), t5th in fewest hits allowed (15), 4th in strikeouts/9 inn. (12.24), 4th in fewest hits/9 inn. (5.40)
• ANDREW OVERLAND - 12th in opponent batting average (.221), t5th in fewest hits allowed (15), t7th in fewest runs allowed (8)
• TYLER STEWART - t9th in innings (42.0), 12th in walks/9 inn. (2.14)
• EVAN GIBBONS - 11th in innings (40.1), t11th in strikeouts (35)
• COOPER RONS - t3rd in wins (4)
• XAVIER RICHARDS - t2nd in appearances (15), t10th in fewest runs allowed (9), t4th in fewest walks allowed (5), 11th in strikeouts/9 inn. (10.48), 11th in walks/9 inn. (2.01)
• ANDREW MONSON - t4th in appearances (14)

HORNETS IN THE NCAA (as of April 7 / top 100 only)…
Team
• 7th in walks allowed/9 inn. (3.13)
• 19th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.74)
• 37th in WHIP (1.38)
• 58th in double plays (24)
• 70th in ERA (4.95)
• 87th in hit by pitch (47)
• 93rd in double plays per game (0.73)

Player
• CESAR VALERO - 83rd in doubles (11)
• MATT MASCIANGELO - 8th in hit by pitch (16), 14th in hit by pitch per game (0.52)
• JP SMITH - 19th in home runs (13), 34th in home runs per game (0.41)
• GUNNER GOULDSMITH - 52nd in toughest to strikeout (10.8)
• XAVIER RICHARDS - 61st in appearances (15)
• KADE BROWN - 24th in saves (5)
• COOPER RONS - 80th in wins (4)