SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State junior infielder JP Smith and sophomore reliever Kade Brown were two of 12 players named to the preseason All-Western Athletic Conference team on Wednesday as the Hornets prepare to open the 2025 season next week.

Both Smith and Brown are preseason picks for the first time in their careers as a Sacramento State player has been named to the league's preseason team for the third straight year and the 14th time in 20 seasons since rejoining the WAC in 2006.

With Wednesday's two selections, it also marks the first time since the Hornets have had multiple players named to the preseason all-conference team since outfielder Matt Smith and pitcher Scott Randall accomplished the feat prior to the 2020 campaign and the seventh time overall.

Coming off a season in which he set the school record for career home runs, Smith enters his third season with the green and gold in 2025 after batting .273 with eight doubles, 22 home runs, and 48 RBI en route to All-WAC second team honors. Only the second player in school history to hit more than 20 home runs in a season (Harvey Hargrove owns the single-season mark with 26 in 1997), Smith finished the year ranked among the top 10 in the conference in six different categories while collecting seven games with multiple home runs, 16 multi-hit contests, and 15 games with two-or-more RBI.

Brown was a Freshman All-America second-team selection by D1 Baseball following his first year in a Hornet uniform, one of 36 players from across the country — and one of only five from the West Coast — to earn that honor. One of the top relievers in the WAC in 2024, Brown finished 3-3 with a 3.72 ERA and eight saves in 22 appearances as Sacramento State's closer, posting the most saves by a freshman since Sutter McLoughlin set the school single-season record with 17 in 2013.

His save total ranked tied for 10th on the school's single-season chart and No. 34 in the NCAA, finishing with 54 strikeouts in 38.2 innings against only 18 walks. Opposing batters hit just .189 against Brown as he finished with at least one strikeout in 20 of his 22 appearances, including multiple strikeouts in a game 16 times. He led the WAC in opponent batting average and saves, ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (12.57), third in fewest hits allowed (27), and tied for eighth in fewest runs allowed (19).

Both Smith and Brown spent time this past summer in the prestigious Cape Cod League — Smith with the Orleans Firebirds and Brown with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks.

As a team, Sacramento State was picked by the league's head coaches to finish fifth in this year's WAC standings, receiving 36 points overall to stand just three points back of fourth-place Tarleton State and two points ahead of sixth-place Utah Valley. 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.

Entering his 15th season at the helm of the Hornet program, Head Coach Reggie Christiansen returns 18 letter winners overall, three returning redshirts, and adds 18 newcomers — including eight transfers — to his roster for the 2025 campaign. Sacramento State is coming off a 26-win campaign in 2024, advancing to the WAC Tournament for the 14th time.

The Hornets officially open the season with an alternating home-and-home four-game series against Bay Area rival San Francisco on Feb. 14-17. Sacramento State hosts games one and three in the series at John Smith Field and heads to Benedetti Diamond for games two and four.

2025 WAC PRESEASON BASEBALL COACHES POLL
1. Grand Canyon (8) - 64 points
2. Abilene Christian (1) - 54
3. California Baptist - 46
4. Tarleton State - 39
5. Sacramento State - 36
6. Utah Valley - 34
7. UT Arlington - 28
8. Seattle U - 12
9. Utah Tech - 11

2025 PRESEASON ALL-WAC TEAM
Preseason Player of the Year: Nick Dumesnil, Jr., OF, California Baptist
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Brett Lanman, So., LHP, Abilene Christian

C – Parker Airhart, Sr., UT Arlington
1B – JP Smith, Jr., Sacramento State
1B – Zach Yorke, Jr., Grand Canyon
2B – Ben Greer, Grad, Abilene Christian
3B – Eli Paton, R-Sr., Grand Canyon
SS – Emilio Barreras, Jr., Grand Canyon
OF – Nick Dumesnil, Jr., California Baptist
OF – Eddy Pelc, Grad, Grand Canyon
OF – Nate Bach, R-Sr., Utah Valley
SP – Brett Lanman, So., LHP, Abilene Christian
SP – Isaac Lyon, Jr., RHP, Grand Canyon
RP – Kade Brown, R-So., RHP, Sacramento State