SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the third consecutive week, the Sacramento State baseball team will play a four-game series as the Hornets host South Dakota State at John Smith Field beginning Wednesday (Feb. 26) running through Saturday (March 1). The two teams open the series with a 6 p.m. first pitch, followed by 2 p.m. starts on both Thursday and Friday. Sunday's finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
The four scheduled games against the Jackrabbits mark the ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th games of the season in a span of 16 days for Sacramento State -- all but two of those at home -- which has had only four days without a game in the first three weeks of the regular season.
PLAY BALL!
WHAT: South Dakota State (0-4, 0-0 Summit League) at Sacramento State (4-4, 0-0 WAC)
WHEN: Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 26 - March 1, 2025
TIME(S): 6 PM / 2 PM / 2 PM / 1 PM
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
FOLLOW:
Game 1 - ESPN+ | Live Stats
Game 2 - WAC International | Live Stats
Game 3 - WAC International | Live Stats
Game 4 - Live Stats
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | South Dakota State | Western Athletic Conference
PROBABLE STARTERS
Game 1 - RHP Caleb Duerr (0-0, 3.86 ERA) at RHP Ethan Lay (0-0, 10.80 ERA)
Game 2 - RHP Ty Madison (0-1, 19.29 ERA) at LHP Sean Carey (0-1, 1.42 ERA)
Game 3 - RHP Sam Schlecht (0-1, 10.80 ERA) at RHP Evan Gibbons (1-1, 5.91 ERA)
Game 4 - RHP Arlen Peters (0-1, 9.00 ERA) at RHP Tyler Stewart (1-0, 4.50 ERA)
WE'LL DO IT LIVE!
• Wednesday's series opener will be streamed live via the ESPN+ platform, while Thursday and Friday's contests will stream exclusively on the WAC International platform
• Due on conflicts with other home events on Saturday, the series finale will not be streamed
• Links to the video stream, as well as live scoring, are available on the baseball schedule page at HornetSports.com
ABOUT THE JACKRABBITS
• South Dakota State remains in Northern California for the second straight week after officially opening its season by being swept in a four-game series at Pacific last week to begin the year 0-4
• The Jackrabbits had their season-opening four-game series against Murray State (Feb. 14-16) canceled due to weather and will play their next nine games on the road following the series against Hornets before playing their first home game on March 21 to open a Summit League series against St. Thomas
• South Dakota State finished the 2024 season with a 20-29 overall record and 11-17 in the Summit League
• The Jackrabbits were picked to finish fifth in the Summit League in 2025, finishing behind Oral Roberts, St. Thomas, Omaha, and North Dakota State, and ahead of Northern Colorado
• Shortstop Carter Sintek and reliever Dylan Driessen were selected as league preseason "Players to Watch"
• Infielder Luke Luskey leads all SDSU hitters with a .571 (8-for-14) average over four games, adding a pair of doubles, a home run, and four RBI -- all team high's
• South Dakota State's weekend rotation is scheduled to be: RHP Caleb Duerr (0-0, 3.86 ERA) in Wednesday's opener, RHP Ty Madison (0-1, 19.29 ERA) on Thursday, RHP Sam Schlecht (0-1, 10.80 ERA) for Friday's third game, and RHP Arlen Peters (0-1, 9.00 ERA) for Saturday's finale
SERIES NOTES
• This week marks the third all-time meeting between the Hornets and the Jackrabbits, but the first since a three-game series that was split between Sacramento and both San Joaquin Delta College and the University of the Pacific due to weather and field conditions in 2016
• Sacramento State is a combined 4-2 all-time against South Dakota State, sweeping that series in 2016 after dropping two-of-three to the Jackrabbits in the first-ever meeting between the programs in 2007 in Sacramento
CONFERENCE CALL
• Entering this week's contests, the Hornets are a combined 39-15-1 against the current Summit League baseball alignment, having faced five of the conference's six teams: Northern Colorado (24-10), North Dakota State (9-2-1), Omaha (0-1), St. Thomas (2-0), and South Dakota State (4-2)
• The only current baseball-playing member that the Hornets have not met is Oral Roberts
• Of the 34 all-time meetings with Northern Colorado, 25 of those came as league rivals when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference from 2014-21, including a 2-0 record against the Bears in the WAC Tournament
• This week marks the first meeting against a Summit League opponent since taking two in a rain-shortened series against the Tommies in 2023
GIBBONS EARNS WAC WEEKLY HONORS
• For the first time in his career, senior right-hander Evan Gibbons was named the Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week following his stellar start against Ball State last week
• Gibbons becomes the first Hornet pitcher to earn weekly honors from the league since teammate Kade Brown did so on April 22 of last season
• A three-time WAC All-Academic Team selection, Gibbons allowed only five baserunners over six innings of work in his team's 2-0 win, stranding four of those baserunners in scoring position
• He also finished with a career-high tying eight strikeouts in the contest, matching his total set against Utah Tech in 2023 and tied twice in 2024 against Utah Valley and Stephen F. Austin
MEMORIES... LIKE THE CORNERS OF MY MIND
• This week marks the second meeting between South Dakota State and its former head coach -- Sacramento State head man Reggie Christiansen
• Christiansen was head coach of the Jackrabbits from 2005-08, finishing with 96 wins in his four seasons in Brookings before joining the Hornet program as an assistant coach under John Smith for the 2009-10 seasons
• Christiansen oversaw SDSU's transition to the Division I level during his time there, including winning 34 games and being named the Division I Independent Coach of the Year in 2007
LET'S PLAY FOUR!
• Sacramento State will extend its weekends in each of the first three series of the season, playing four games against San Francisco, Ball State, and South Dakota State, instead of the usual three
• This season marks the first time in the program's recorded history that it will open the year with three, four-game series
• It is also the first time that the Hornets will play three, four-game non-conference series at any point in a season since the 2015 campaign when they faced Utah, Portland, and Cal Poly in four-game sets
• Sacramento State finished 8-4 in those 12 games with series wins over the Utes (3-1) and Pilots (3-1) along with a series split with the Mustangs
WALK A MILE IN HIS SHOES
• Senior outfielder Tyler White has elevated the phrase "take a walk" to a whole new level this season
• White, who walked only 12 times in 56 games in all of 2024, has already walked 14 times in eight games in 2025, tying him for the national lead with VMI's Owen Prince entering the week
• White has drawn at least one walk in all eight games, including multiple bases on balls in four of those and a career-high three in the opener against San Francisco (2/14) and the finale against the Dons (2/17)
• The senior ranks fourth in the NCAA in walks per game (1.75), helping Sacramento State as a team stand No. 13 in the NCAA in walks overall (52)
• His .512 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot in the order is second on the team behind only the injured Matt Masciangelo (.667), and has helped set the table for the Hornets, as White has come around to score a team-high 10 runs on the year
BROWN DELIVERS
• Preseason All-American and Stopper of the Year candidate Kade Brown is a perfect 3-for-3 in save opportunities to start the year after shutting down Ball State for three innings in the second game of a doubleheader on Feb. 21
• Brown combined with Gibbons on a three-hit shutout in the 2-0 victory, allowing only one hit and walking one while striking out four on 29 pitches
• His three saves tie him for No. 2 in the NCAA, standing just one back of Houston's Richie Roman for the national lead as of Feb. 24
• It is the second time that Brown has thrown at least three innings this season after going 3.1 innings at San Francisco on Feb. 17 and striking out a career-high eight
• Opponents are hitting just .111 (3-for-27) against the right-hander
• His latest save was the 11th of his career, passing both Jeff Roth (2008-09) and Billy Sinacori (2004-07) for sole possession of eighth on the school's all-time list
• Brown's next save will tie him with Tyler Beardsley (2015-16) and Trevor Rodgers (1990-91) for sixth
POTURNAK PUTTING IT IN PLAY
• Sophomore Jakob Poturnak enters the week with hits in six of his first eight games as a Hornet -- including at least one in each of his last five
• The five-game hitting streak is the longest active streak among Hornet hitters as Poturnak is batting .391 (9-for-23) with three runs scored and four RBI
• The performance has raised his season average more than 100 points from .231 on Feb. 16 to .333 entering this week's contests
SMITH STREAKING TOO
• Junior JP Smith has also hit safely in six of his eight contests this season and has reached base safely in each of his last six dating back to game three against San Francisco
• Smith has hit safely in five of those six contests, batting .318 (7-for-22) with six runs scored, all nine of his RBI on the season, and five of his six walks on the year to keep the run alive
BETCHA CAN'T HIT JUST ONE
• When junior Ryan Christiansen gets a hit, it's been a pretty safe bet another one is to follow
• Christiansen enters the week with at least one hit in six of the team's eight games and multiple hits in a team-best four of those eight contests
• He had a pair of three-hit performances in the finales of each of the Hornets' first two series, going 3-for-5 with three runs, a home run, and three RBI against San Francisco on Feb. 17, before going 3-for-6 with two runs on Saturday (Feb. 22) against Ball State
• He reached base safely in each of his first six games (tied for the second-longest streak by a Hornet this season), hitting safely in five of those
• The four multi-hit games this season are just one fewer than he accumulated in all of 2024, when he had five
NOW WALK IT OFF (NOW WALK IT OFF)
• Ryan Christiansen couldn't have picked a better time for his second home run of the year as his two-run shot in the bottom of the ninth against Ball State in game two of the series made the Hornets walk-off 6-5 winners
• The last time Sacramento State walked off winners via the long ball came nearly three years earlier to the day on Feb. 19, 2022, when Josh Walker slugged a two-run home run to beat Northern Illinois, 2-0
• Christiansen's home run was the first game-winning RBI of his career
QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON
• Gibbons' win over the Cardinals marked his first "quality start" (at least six innings pitched, three earned runs allowed or fewer) of the season
• It was the 14th "quality start" of Gibbons' career after he posted eight (in 15 starts) in 2024 and five (in 13 starts) in 2023
FEEL THE BREEZE
• Although he didn't get the decision at the end of the day, senior right-hander Tyler Stewart had the Ball State bats guessing in his start on Feb. 21, tying his career high with seven strikeouts
• The seven strikeouts came without a walk as Stewart as allowed only one base on balls over 10.0 innings of work and has held opponents to a .263 average
• Stewart set a career high with seven strikeouts in his first start as a sophomore against North Dakota State in 2023 and tied that later in the year at Pacific
• He followed that up with a third seven-strikeout performance against Loyola Marymount in the 2024 opener
• In all four of those seven-strikeout performances, Stewart has not walked a batter
KEEP CALM AND CAREY ON
• Sophomore left-hander Sean Carey has been solid in his first two appearances of the season for the Hornets, including a four-inning start in the series-opener against Ball State
• Over his first 6.1 innings of work this year, Carey has allowed only two hits and one earned run while striking out six -- including a career-high four against the Cardinals in a narrow 4-3 defeat
• Carey, who appeared in eight games and made three starts last season as a true freshman, enters the week leading the WAC with an .091 average against and stands No. 7 in the league in ERA (1.42)
• His two hits allowed are the second-fewest in the WAC among qualifiers and ranks among the top five in fewest runs and fewest earned runs allowed
SHUT(OUT) THE FRONT DOOR
• When Gibbons and Brown blanked Ball State in game three of the series on Feb. 21, it marked the Hornets' first shutout since a 6-0 victory over SeattleU on April 21, 2023
THESE HORNETS DIG THE LONG BALL
• The first two weekends of the season have seen plenty of fireworks as the Hornets have combined to slug 10 home runs, accounting for 18 of the team's 56 runs
• The 10 home runs are the most through the team's first eight since the 2010 team hit 10 in the same span
EARLY... LATE... DOESN'T MATTER
• Sacramento State has been the early aggressor, scoring first in three of their eight contests this season and outscoring the opposition by an 18-4 mark in the first two innings
• The Hornets have also done well scoring late, outscoring opponents by an 11-4 count in the final two innings
IT'S ABOUT TIME
• Already half of the Hornets' eight games this season have surpassed the three-hour mark, including a season-long 3:48 marathon on the series finale against Ball State last week
• That contest was the longest nine-inning game for Sacramento State since it took 3:49 to decide a 13-11 game in favor of Northern Colorado on April 25, 2021
• In 2024, Sacramento State played a total of nine (out of 56) games that went three hours or longer
• On the flip side, this weekend's series also featured the Hornets' shortest game of 2025 thus far, needing only 2:20 to finish off a 2-0 win in the nightcap of a doubleheader on Feb. 21
THE BROTHERS KLIGMAN
• Elie and Ari Kligman are the first brothers in over a decade to play for the Hornets in the same season -- the first since Nathan and Shea Lukes were on the same Sacramento State team in 2013
• Additional research has shown that the Kligman brothers are among a group of 16 confirmed brother duos to have played for the Hornets in the same season, with another two possible brother combinations that are unconfirmed at this time
HELLO, MY NAME IS...
• Thirteen different student-athletes made their Sacramento State debuts in the series against San Francisco
• Newcomers Luis Pimentel-Guerrero and Jakob Poturnak started all four games, while Christian Perez and Michael Perazzo had three starts and played in all four
• Luke Oyler also earned his first start and made a pair of appearances while Jameson Mullin was a pinch hitter in game three
• Five of those players all collected their first career hits, while Poturnak and Perez slugged their first career home runs -- including a two-home run performance by Poturnak in game two
• On the mound, Ethan Lay made the start in Monday's finale, while Jackson Halverson, Dylan Torres, Chase Sorlie, Baylor Sandberg, Peter Caldera, and Carson Latimer all made their debuts in relief
• A week later against Ball State, Orlando Cobarrubias made his debut as a pinch hitter in the opener on Feb. 20, then earned his first start in the outfield in the second game of the doubleheader against the Cardinals a day later
• Pitcher Andrew Overland also made his season debut against Ball State, allowing hit on eight pitches over an inning of work in the series finale
NEW-LOOK WAC
• This year's race for the Western Athletic Conference title will feature two fewer teams as Stephen F. Austin and UTRGV have left the league to join the Southland Conference
• That leaves nine teams in this year's WAC, with the top eight qualifying for the league tournament
THE BUZZ ON THE HORNETS
• Head Coach Reggie Christiansen enters his 17th year with the program and his 15th as head coach
• Sacramento State finished the 2024 season with a 26-31 overall record and a 14-16 mark in the WAC
• Last year's record snapped a run of 11 consecutive 30-win seasons for the program dating back to 2012
• There will be a lot of new faces in new places for Sacramento State in 2024 as the Hornets welcome back 18 letter winners and a trio of redshirts while adding 18 newcomers -- including eight transfers
• Nine pitchers return from last season's staff, including weekend starters in senior right-handers Evan Gibbons (6-5, 3.89 ERA) and Tyler Stewart (4-4, 3.75 ERA)
• Of those 18 newcomers, eight of those are pitchers
• Of the eight transfers, two hail from the Division I ranks, one from a Division II program, while five come from junior college programs
PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS
• Sacramento State was picked to finish fifth in this year's iteration of the WAC standings according to a vote of the league's head coaches
• The Hornets received 36 points overall to stand two points ahead of sixth-place Utah Valley and three points back of fourth-place Tarleton State in a tightly bunched middle of the pack
• Grand Canyon received eight of the nine first-place votes and 64 points overall to stand atop the poll, followed by Abilene Christian (one first-place vote) with 54 points and California Baptist with 46 points
DUO PICKS UP PRESEASON WAC HONORS
• Junior infielder JP Smith and sophomore pitcher Kade Brown were among a group of 12 student-athletes named to the preseason All-WAC team according to a vote of the league's head coaches
• Both were named to the team for the first time in their respective careers
• Smith and Brown's inclusion on this year's team gives the Hornets representation on the preseason squad for the third consecutive season (Jack Zalasky in 2023 and Cesar Valero in 2024)
• Sacramento State has had at least one player named to the preseason All-WAC team in 14 of their 20 seasons since rejoining the conference in 2006 (there were no preseason teams in 2013 and 2014)
• This year marks the first time that the Hornets have had multiple players named to the preseason team since outfielder Matt Smith and pitcher Scott Randall accomplished the feat prior to the 2020 season
• The Hornets have had multiple preseason All-WAC selections seven times (2008, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2025) and a program-best five preseason All-WAC selections prior to the 2015 campaign: Nathan Lukes, Brennan Leitao, Sam Long, Sutter McLoughlin, and Scotty Burcham
EVERYBODY'S ALL-AMERICAN
• Adding to the awards on his mantel, Brown picked up a pair of preseason honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
• Brown was named to the organization's preseason All-America second team and one of 77 players named to the initial Stopper of the Year watch list
• He is the first Hornet to earn preseason All-America honors since pitcher Brennan Leitao was named to Collegiate Baseball's preseason honor roll (3rd Team) in 2015
• Brown was the only player on the 77-man roster from the Western Athletic Conference and one of only seven selected from West Coast schools
• Since 2013, four Sacramento State players have been named to preseason All-America lists by various organizations: Brown, Leitao, Rhys Hoskins (2014 - Baseball American 3rd Team), and Sutter McLoughlin (2013 - NCBWA 3rd Team)
• He becomes the sixth Hornet since 2005 to be named to either the preseason or midseason watch list for the Stopper of the Year award, joining McLoughlin (2013-15), Tyler Beardsley (2016), Austin Roberts (2019), Stone Churby (2021), and Jack Zalasky (2023)
LOCAL FLAVOR
• This year's Hornet roster will have a definite local flair, featuring 12 student-athletes from Sacramento and the surrounding areas
• JP Smith (Granite Bay HS), Brett Ott (Granite Bay HS), Ryan Christiansen (Rio Americano HS), Elijah Rogalski (Rio Americano HS), and Jackson Halverson (McClatchy HS), all hail from Sacramento
• Sean Carey (Folsom HS) is from Folsom
• Ethan Lay (Colusa HS) is from Colusa
• Peter Caldera (Granite Bay HS) is from Granite Bay
• Evan Gibbons (Franklin HS), Noah Lucchesi (Laguna Creek HS), and Kade Brown (Elk Grove HS) hail from Elk Grove
• Luke Oyler (Whitney HS) is from Rocklin
STATE OF THE HORNETS
• Sacramento State's 2024 roster will represent seven different states entering the season: California (23 players), Nevada (5), Arizona (3), Oregon (2), Idaho (1), Texas (1), and Washington (1)
• The seven states match the 2017 roster and are one shy of most states represented in the program's Division I history, which was set in 2024
• Sophomore Cameron Sewell (Medford) and freshman Troy Osborne (Grants Pass), are the first Hornets from Oregon since Ty Fox (Central Point) in 2018
• Redshirt freshman Dylan Torres from El Paso, Texas, is the first player to hail from Texas since Ricky Martinez (Pflugerville, Texas) in 2017
• Bryce Stockton, originally from the Sacramento area before moving to Idaho during his freshman year of high school, is the first player from Idaho since Jason Haselhahn (Moscow, Idaho) in 1996
• All told, Sacramento State rosters have featured student-athletes from 17 different states in the program's Division I history: California, Nevada, Oregon, Arizona, Washington, Texas, Utah, Idaho, Hawai'i, Georgia, Alaska, Tennessee, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Kansas, and Missouri
• Only once in the program's Division I history has the Hornet roster featured all Californians, that coming during the 2009 campaign
• This year's roster also features a pair of Canadians in junior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero (Burlington, Ontario) and junior Carson Latimer (Delta, British Columbia) as well as the program's first-ever player born and raised in the Philippines in Jakob Poturnak, who then moved to Vancouver, British Columbia
FEELS LIKE HOME
• The Hornets will be well-acquainted with John Smith Field in 2025 as they are scheduled to play 34 of their 56 (61 percent) contests this season within the friendly confines
• Starting with the team's opener on Valentine's Day, Sacramento State will play 13 of its first 16 – and 19 of its first 28 -- before the calendar turns to April
• The Hornets will not leave the state of California for a game until their second Western Athletic Conference series of the year at Tarleton State during the last weekend in March
• Sacramento State finished 13-18 at home last season -- its first losing season at home since the 2011 squad finished 9-19
