EDINBURG, Texas — Sophomore Ryan Christiansen finished with a career high three hits and collected his second career multi-homer game while four Hornet pitchers combined to scatter four hits on the night, helping lift Sacramento State to a 7-2 victory over host UTRGV in the Western Athletic Conference series opener on Thursday in Edinburg, Texas.
The Hornets improved to 26-28 overall and evened up their WAC record at 14-14 on the year, moving ahead of the Vaqueros in the standings by a game for seventh place. UTRGV fell to 24-23 overall and 13-15 in league play.
Christiansen logged his first career three-hit game to pace the offense, lacing a single in the fifth, slugging a two-run home run as part of a four-run seventh, and clubbing his second homer of the night — and his fifth of the season — in the ninth to cap the scoring.
He finished as the only Hornet with multiple hits on the night, but six other batters collected hits, including run-scoring knocks for Jorge Bojorquez and JP Smith, in the victory.
Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons (6-4) was credited with the win in the predetermined three-inning start, allowing just one hit and striking out a pair. Tyler Stewart and Max Pettey followed with a pair of shutout innings apiece, each allowing one walk while striking out three, before Cooper Rons wrapped up the final two innings.
Isiah Campa (2-2) suffered the loss despite allowing only two runs on five hits and striking out four over 4.2 innings of work.
The Hornets got the scoring started with single runs in the second and fourth innings, getting an RBI ground ball from Tyler White to score Elie Kligman for the 1-0 lead and making it 2-0 two innings later as Kligman had a potential home run brought back into play by the Vaquero outfielder for a triple, only to score two batters later on Bojorquez's RBI single.
Sacramento State then broke the game wide open in the seventh as Cameron Sewell reached on a fielder's choice and scored when Christiansen left the yard via left centerfield for the 4-0 lead. Walks to Gunner Gouldsmith and Matt Masciangelo followed, and a wild pitch moved both into scoring position for Smith who, after a pitching change, greeted the UTRGV reliever with a ringing double off the left field wall to make it 6-0.
The Vaqueros, who had been held to a single hit in the game to this point, clawed two runs back on three hits in the eighth, but would get no closer as Christiansen put the exclamation point on the victory with his second home run of the game over the right field fence for the final 7-2 advantage.
Hits by Gouldsmith and Smith each extended their respective hitting streaks to eight straight games, while the Bojorquez single allowed him to reach base safely for the 19th consecutive game — the longest such streak by a Hornet this season.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PT on Friday evening.
