SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento State baseball team plays in front of the hometown faithful for the final time in 2024, hosting Western Athletic Conference rival Stephen F. Austin in a three-game series at John Smith Field this weekend. First pitch for each day of the series is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday, and Noon on Sunday. The Hornets' 2024 senior class will be honored for their contributions to the program following the final out on Sunday as part of "Senior Day" festivities.

PLAY BALL!
WHAT: Stephen F. Austin (9-40, 5-22 WAC) at Sacramento State (23-27, 11-13 WAC)
WHEN: Friday-Saturday, May 10-12, 2024
TIME: 4 PM / 7 PM / Noon
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
FOLLOW:
Game 1 - ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game 2 - ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game 3 - ESPN+ | Live Stats
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Stephen F. Austin | Western Athletic Conference

ON THE MOUND…
Friday: LHP Jack James (0-4, 8.91 ERA) vs. RHP Evan Gibbons (4-4, 3.92 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Kade Parker (2-2, 6.31 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Stewart (4-3, 3.53 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Jasper Nelson (0-1, 10.43 ERA)

OH, OH, IT'S MAGIC
• The race for seeding in the upcoming WAC Tournament comes down to the final two weekends of the regular season with the Hornets in the driver's seat for one of the eight league postseason berths
• Sacramento State's magic number is two, needing either two wins, two losses by Utah Tech (9-18), or a win and a loss, in its final six conference games to clinch a berth
• The Trailblazers are currently 3.5 games back of the Hornets in the standings entering the weekend and have only three conference games remaining compared to Sacramento State's six
• The Hornets, meanwhile, are within striking distance of a number of schools, standing a game back of UTRGV (12-12) -- which they face in the final week of the regular season -- for seventh, two games behind UT Arlington (13-11) for sixth, three games back of California Baptist (14-10) in fifth place, and four games behind a second-place logjam of Abilene Christian, Tarleton State, and Utah Valley (all 15-9)
• Sacramento State holds tiebreakers over Utah Valley, Seattle U, and UT Arlington by virtue of series wins

ABOUT THE LUMBERJACKS
• Stephen F. Austin enters its final WAC series of the season with a 9-40 overall record and a 5-22 conference record
• The Lumberjacks are coming off an 11-6 loss to Louisiana-Monroe in a midweek game on Wednesday after taking 2-of-3 from Utah Tech last weekend
• SFA is 1-21 in road games (and an 0-3 mark on a neutral field), losing its last four since posting its first road win at UTRGV by an 11-10 score on April 26
• Sophomore utility Brock Knoerr leads the offense with a .303 average to go along with a .749 OPS, scoring 17 runs
• Senior infielder Nolan Brown leads the team with nine home runs while senior Tom Biggs has driven in a team-high 33 runs
• The Lumberjacks' pitching staff sports a 9.25 ERA over 403 innings, striking out 319 while walking 284 with opponents hitting .325 this year

SERIES NOTES
• This weekend marks only the second-ever series between Sacramento State and Stephen F. Austin after the two met in Nacogdoches, Texas, last year
• The Lumberjacks took 2-of-3 from the Hornets last year, with the lone Sacramento State victory coming in the form of a 17-3 run-rule triumph in seven innings in game two of the season
• All three contests were high-scoring affairs with SFA winning the opener 7-1 and the finale 15-13

SALUTING THE SENIORS
• Sacramento State has won two straight "Senior Day" games and five of its last six dating back to the 2017 season

MILESTONE IN SIGHT
• Head Coach Reggie Christiansen enters the weekend just four WAC victories shy of 200 for his career
• His 196 career conference wins are the most among current WAC head coaches
• Earlier this year, Christiansen picked up his 500th career Division I coaching win with a 7-5 victory over Minnesota on March 1
• In 2023, he earned his 500th overall win as a head coach at New Mexico State on April 30, and earned his 400th win as Sacramento State's head coach against Utah Tech on May 20
• He coached in his 1,000th career game earlier this year against Nevada on March 19 in a 21-9 victory

EARLY BIRDS
• Thanks to their 13-2 win in seven innings to open the series at UT Arlington last weekend, the Hornets improved to 3-0 in games ended early due to the run rule (10-run lead after seven innings)
• Sacramento State also posted an 11-1 win in seven against California Baptist on April 7 and an eight-inning 14-2 win on April 12 at Seattle U
• However, the Hornets are 0-2 in extra-inning games this year, falling to LMU in 11 innings on Feb. 16 and a 14-inning heartbreaker against Tarleton State on April 26

CROOKED NUMBERS
• A four-run seventh inning on Tuesday night against Nevada marked the 19th time this season over 15 games that the Hornets have scored four-or-more runs in a single inning
• Sacramento State fell to 12-3 in those games following the loss to the Wolf Pack, but had won 11 straight such contests after 12-10 loss in the second game of the year against Loyola Marymount

BETCHA CAN'T HIT JUST ONE
• Senior Gunner Gouldsmith is collecting hits in bunches for the Hornets as of late, collecting his 18th multi-hit game of the year with a 2-for-3 night at the plate against Nevada on Tuesday
• The performance marked his fourth-straight multi-hit game dating back to last week's series at UT Arlington, hitting .563 (9-for-16) in that stretch while scoring three times and driving in six
• Gouldsmith is the second Hornet to have multiple hits in four straight games this year after Tyler White had four consecutive two-hit games in a three-game series against California Baptist (April 5-7) and a midweek win over No. 17 Oregon (April 9)
• The last Sacramento State hitter to have five-straight multi-hit games was Martin Vincelli-Simard on April 1-16 of last season, hitting .545 (12-for-22) in that stretch in the final two games of the Stephen F. Austin series and all three against UT Arlington

GOOD AS GOLD? NO, "GOULD" IS GOOD
• Gouldsmith has hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games, batting .325 (25-for-77) with 12 runs, 12 walks, and 16 RBI to go along with six doubles and two home runs
• Gouldsmith has gone without a hit in a game only eight times with a team-high 18 multi-hit contests
• He has also driven in a run in eight of his last 11 games atop the Hornets' lineup, including a career high-tying four RBI -- a mark that was set in the first meeting with the Wolf Pack earlier this year -- against Nevada on Tuesday
• His 67 hits this season rank tied for third in the WAC entering the weekend -- just six off the lead -- and are a personal single-season career high (previously 38 in 2023)
• His 18-game hitting streak from Feb. 27 - March 26 is tied for the seventh-longest recorded streak in school history along with Derek Brown (1994) and Blake Crosby (2009)

RUNNING THROUGH RENO
• Gouldsmith has really done well against his hometown school as the Reno, Nev., native hit .538 (7-for-13) with five runs scored, a pair of walks, and eight RBI in the three games against Nevada

COUNT ON CORTEZ
• Sophomore catcher Jacob Cortez has reached safely in his last 16 games dating back to the series finale at Grand Canyon on March 28
• Cortez has hit safely in 14 of those 16 contests, drawing a pair of walks in each of the remaining two games to keep the streak alive
• During that stretch, Cortez is batting .392 (20-for-51) with eight runs scored, three doubles, and eight RBI, while walking eight times
• He also enters the weekend riding an eight-game hitting streak -- tied for the second-longest by a Hornet this year -- batting .385 (10-for-26) with four runs scored, a double, four walks, and an RBI

BASES FOR BOJO
• Not to be outdone, senior Jorge Bojorquez also has a lengthy streak of reaching base of his own, doing so in each of his last 15 contests over the last month of play
• In that span, he has hit safely in 11 of those, including a pair of three-hit performances and a career high-tying four-hit game in the opener at UT Arlington last weekend
• The senior is hitting .364 (20-for-55), scoring 16 runs and driving in nine while walking nine times

MOVIN' ON UP
• After setting the school record for runs scored during the team's trip to Southern California -- now up to 155 -- senior Jorge Bojorquez has his sights set on moving up a couple more lists
• With two walks on Tuesday against Nevada, Bojorquez now has 106 free passes to his name, standing second on the all-time list behind only former teammate Keith Torres (140 from 2018-22)
• He is one of only four Hornets to reach 100 walks in his career, when you add Will Fitzpatrick (103 from 1990-93) and Kenny Smallcomb (105 from 1981-82) to the list
• Bojorquez's 221 career hits now have him eighth on the all-time list, trailing David Flores (226 from 2005-08) for seventh
• He is also 10th in career hit by pitches (28), 10th in games started (200), and 8th in career at-bats (768)

CRUSHING IT
• Of sophomore JP Smith's five hits in the series against UT Arlington, three of those left the yard to help the Hornets to a series win over the Mavericks
• Smith now has 19 home runs on the year and 33 for his career -- ranking second on both the school single-season and career lists, respectively
• The 19 home runs this year trail only Harvey Hargrove's record 26 home runs in 1997, while the 33 career blasts are two shy of Hargrove (1995-97) and Martin Vincelli-Simard (2019-23) for the most in school history
• Smith's two home runs in the series finale with the Mavericks marked the sixth time this year that the sophomore has had a multi-homer game
• Should Smith end the year atop the WAC leaderboard for home runs (he is currently second, just two off the lead of California Baptist's Mitch Simon), he would become only the third Hornet to lead the league, joining a pair of Major Leaguers: Rhys Hoskins (12 in 2014) and James Outman (11 in 2018)

MATT STANDS ALONE
• With one in the series opener against UT Arlington and another against Nevada on Tuesday, junior Matt Masciangelo continues to extend his school single-season record for being hit by a pitch with 24
• Still with six games remaining this year, Masciangelo stands just four HBPs shy of breaking into the school's all-time top 10, closing in on current teammate Jorge Bojorquez, who stands 10th with 28
• His 24 HBPs rank third in the nation behind JT Landwehr of Mount St. Mary's (31)
• Masciangelo enters the weekend leading the WAC, standing five ahead of Utah Valley's Luke Iverson
• Masciangelo had quite a debut in the green and gold, hit by a pitch in eight of his first nine plate appearances during the Hornets' opening weekend
• He was hit three times in the opener against LMU, four more times in game two, and was plunked in his first appearance in the finale
• His four HBP's in game two set a program Division I single-game record
• The performance gained national attention with the video of his first seven HBPs garnering close to 10 million views on social media

EXTRA, EXTRA!
• Sacramento State has collected an extra base hit in all but five games this season
• The team's 140 combined extra-base hits are fourth in the WAC behind Utah Valley (200), California Baptist (187), and Grand Canyon (169)
• The Hornets rank eighth in doubles (84), fifth in home runs (48) and third with eight triples

JUST A WALK IN THE PARK KAZANSKY
• Hornet hitters were looking for their pitch on Tuesday against Nevada, coaxing 11 walks out of the Wolf Pack pitching staff -- two each for Gouldsmith, Bojorquez, and Jaxon Byrd
• The 11 free passes tied a season high set in the series finale against California Baptist on April 7 and marked the third time that the Sacramento State batting order has drawn double-digit walks in 2024
• They are also the most since the Hornets drew 12 against St. Thomas on Feb. 25 of last year

THE ROAD IS WHERE THE RUNS ARE
• Although the Hornets have played seven more games at John Smith Field than away from it this season, the road is where the team's bats have been the strongest
• Sacramento State is hitting .287 as a team in 21 games away from home, averaging 6.2 runs per game while slugging .443 and posting a .372 on-base percentage
• Meanwhile, at home, the Hornets are batting just .243 in 28 games, averaging 5.6 runs per game and slugging .375 with a .354 on-base percentage
• In their last 12 road contests, the Hornets have scored eight-or-more runs seven times, while doing so only three times in their previous 12 home contests

PITCHER'S PARK
• However, on the flip side of the above note, the Hornet pitching staff has enjoyed the comforts of home this year
• Sacramento State's staff sports a 4.97 ERA and a .260 average against in 28 home contests, posting 252 of the team's 398 strikeouts
• On the road, the Hornet pitchers have a 5.15 ERA and a .279 average against in 21 games, striking out just 137 hitters

FACING "STAFF" COMPETITION
• No other pitching staff in the WAC has thrown more innings that the Hornets (442.2), who also rank among the top three in the league in ERA (3rd - 4.98), opposing batting average (3rd - .267), strikeouts (3rd - 398), fewest walks allowed (163), fewest walks allowed per game (3rd - 3.33), fewest hits allowed per game (2nd - 9.25), and fewest runs allowed per game (3rd - 5.51)

YOU COMPLETE ME
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons recorded his first career complete-game in the opener at UT Arlington, throwing all seven innings of the 13-2 win
• It was the first complete game by a Hornet pitcher since Eli Saul went the full nine at Grand Canyon on May 6, 2022 -- nearly two years earlier to the day
• He allowed just one earned on two hits in the effort, dancing around four walks while holding the Mavericks to an .095 average (2-for-21)

QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON
• Gibbons' complete game marked his sixth-straight "quality start," allowing two runs or fewer in each of those outings, and his seventh overall in 12 starts
• The seven "quality starts" are the most in a single season by a Hornet hurler since Saul had eight during that aforementioned 2022 campaign
• He has gone at least five innings eight times this season, including a career-high eight innings against California Baptist on April 5
• In his last six starts, Gibbons has posted a 1.96 ERA while holding opponents to a .169 (23-for-136) average over 41.1 innings of work, allowing just nine earned and striking out 20 against nine walks
• Gibbons is also 4-1 in that stretch, while lowering his ERA by more than three runs to 3.92 on the year

"X" GONNA GIVE IT TO YA
• Sophomore right-hander Xavier Richards has allowed only four earned runs on 23 hits -- only four of those going for extra bases -- over his last 29.2 innings (17 appearances) while striking out 32 against 12 walks
• Richards has posted a 1.21 ERA in that stretch while holding batters to a .211 (23-for-109) average
• Opposing hitters are hitting just .080 (2-for-25) against Richards over his last four appearances (7.0 innings) dating back to the finale at USC on April 21
• His 21 appearances are tied for third in the WAC entering the weekend, while the sophomore also ranks sixth in the conference in ERA (2.76), third in fewest runs allowed (11), and fifth in fewest runs allowed per game (3.03)

SAVING FACE
• Freshman Kade Brown's seven saves this season are tied for the most in the WAC entering the weekend and are the most by a Hornet freshman since Sutter McLoughlin set the school single-season record with 17 in 2013
• Brown needs just one more save to more into a tie for 10th on the school's single-season chart along with Trevor Rodgers (1990), Mitch Lively (2007), and R.J. Davis (2012)

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
• Brown enters the weekend leading the WAC with a .178 average against in addition to his league-high seven saves
• The seven saves rank tied for No. 26 in the NCAA
• He is tied for ninth in the WAC in appearances (20) while his 49 strikeouts are among the top 15 in the league
• Brown has allowed only 23 hits in 35.1 innings of work, good for the fourth-fewest in the WAC, while his 5.86 hits allowed per game are the second fewest in the conference
• His 12.48 strikeouts per game are third in the league

STRIKE THAT
• The Hornets' pitching staff enters the weekend ranked third in the WAC in total strikeouts (398) and fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (8.09)
• Sacramento State's staff ranks 29th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.44)
• The 398 strikeouts by the staff this year rank eighth on the school's single season list, while the 8.09 strikeouts per nine innings would stand fourth on the single-season chart

6+4+3=2
• The Hornets turned at least one double play in each of their three games at UT Arlington over the weekend, giving them 40 on the season to rank tied for fifth in the WAC entering the weekend
• Sacramento State's defense has turned multiple double plays in a game 11 times this season, including three on three occasions against Minnesota (March 2), at Grand Canyon (March 28), and at Oregon (April 10)
• The Hornets rank No. 35 in the NCAA in double plays turned (Michigan leads with 56)

CYCLE SEEKING
• Junior catcher Elie Kligman's big night at Stanford had him within striking distance of hitting for the cycle, finishing 3-for-3 with his second home run of the year and a fourth-inning double
• He is the fourth Hornet to come close to a cycle this year -- three of those missing only the triple
• Junior Matt Masciangelo was the first, finishing 3-for-4 against Pacific on March 3, missing out on the home run
• Sophomore JP Smith followed on March 10 against Utah Valley, finishing 3-for-5 minus the triple
• Senior Jorge Bojorquez was next at Grand Canyon on March 28, finishing 3-for-5 needing only a triple