SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Five Hornets finished with a pair of hits on the day, including teammates JP Smith and Elie Kligman who slugged their first home runs of the season in the fifth inning, but visiting San Francisco had too much offense on Sunday afternoon, winning a 15-7 shootout at John Smith Field.
Sacramento State fell to 1-2 overall with the defeat despite mustering 13 hits on the day. The Dons, who had 16 hits of their own, scored in every inning but the first and the ninth en route to the win and a 2-1 series lead.
The two teams meet in the series finale on Monday afternoon (Feb. 17) at 2 p.m. at Benedetti Diamond in San Francisco.
Following a scoreless first, the Dons took the early lead on a second-inning home run by Tyler Harries, but the Hornets were quick to answer with a three-run third. Freshman Michael Perazzo collected his first career hit with a double to the gap in right centerfield following singles by Kligman and Matt Masciangelo to tie the game, followed by Luis Pimentel-Guerrero's single to left that was misplayed in the outfield, allowing two runs to come home and give the Hornets a 3-1 lead.
The advantage didn't last long as the San Francisco bats stayed hot. A three-run third regained the lead for the Dons, who added single runs in the fourth and fifth to double-up their hosts for a 6-3 lead in the fifth.
Sacramento State broke out the big bats in the fifth as Smith clubbed his first home run of the season just over the centerfield wall with one out and was followed two batters later by Kligman, who launched his first near the top of the batter's eye in right, bringing the home team to within one.
A two-run home run by USF in the sixth extended the lead back to three, but Ryan Christiansen's RBI single to right center plated Pimentel-Guerrero to keep the Hornets within arms length.
That was until the Dons put the game away with a five-run seventh, clearing the bases with a three-run double by Jordan Lewis and adding a two-run single by Matteo Bellisimo to go up 13-6 and San Francisco never looked back.
An error after the stretch plated another run for the Hornets, but the Dons tacked on two more in the eighth to cap the scoring.
Colin Hunter (0-1) suffered the loss in the start for Sacramento State, allowing four runs on five hits over three innings. Hunter Holzemer (1-0) was credited with the win in relief, allowing two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings.
Six different Hornets made their debuts on Sunday as Jameson Mullin entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh, Luke Oyler played shortstop over the final two innings, while Dylan Torres, Peter Caldera, Chase Sorlie, and Baylor Sandberg all made their first career appearances out of the bullpen.
