SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the second time in just over a week, the Sacramento State baseball team will board a southbound bus for Stockton, Calif., taking on Pacific in a midweek battle on Tuesday (March 18) at 6 p.m. at Klein Family Field.

PLAY BALL!
WHAT: Sacramento State (10-9 overall) at Pacific (10-11 overall)
WHEN: Tuesday, March 18, 2025
TIME: 6 PM
WHERE: Stockton, Calif.
STADIUM: Klein Family Field
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: PacificTigers.com

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Pacific enters the week with a 10-11 overall record after dropping 2-of-3 in a series at Indiana State over the weekend
• The Tigers are playing in their sixth midweek game of the year, posting a 1-4 record in the previous five, which included a split at Cal State Bakersfield last week
• Pacific is 7-3 at home this year, which includes a come-from-behind, 6-5, win over Sacramento State as part of a three-game series on March 8
• The Tigers have lost two of their last three home games after sweeping a four-game set against South Dakota State in late February
• Junior infielder Jake Tandy continues to lead the offense, batting .379 with a .992 OPS, scoring 14 runs, slugging a pair of home runs and driving in 10
• Senior infielder JT Waldon is hitting .333 with three home runs and 18 RBI
• Waldon and Kordell Brown share the team lead with three home runs apiece

SERIES NOTES
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series with Pacific, 101-82-1, according to records that date back to the 1950 season, and leads the series between the two as Division I rivals by a 50-40 count
• Tuesday marks the fourth meeting between the Hornets and Tigers this season after Sacramento State took 2-of-3 in a series two weeks ago — sandwiching a pair of home wins around a loss in Stockton in game two of the series
• Sacramento State is 60-35-1 at home against Pacific at home, but is just 39-45 on the road
• The Hornets have won nine of the last 13 meetings against the Tigers dating back to 2020, with nine of those contests played at John Smith Field
• The last two trips to Stockton have ended in losses for Sacramento State, but the two teams have split the last 10 meetings at Klein Family Field dating back to 2015

CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State has faced all eight members of the current West Coast Conference baseball alignment, posting a 286-304-4 (.485) all-time mark according to available records
• The Hornets have faced three WCC schools in weekend series this season, opening with a four-game split against San Francisco, taking 2-of-3 from Pacific, and splitting a doubleheader against Saint Mary's last weekend in a series that was shortened due to weather
• The Hornets were 4-3 against the WCC in 2024, going 1-2 against Loyola Marymount, 1-1 against Pacific, and 1-0 against both the Dons and Santa Clara
• The 101 wins against Pacific are the most by Sacramento State over any other WCC school
• Tuesday's game marked the final scheduled meeting with a WCC opponent this year as the third game of the series against the Gaels has yet to be rescheduled

MIDWEEK MADNESS
• Tuesday's game at Pacific is the third midweek contest for Sacramento State this season, but the Hornets are still looking for their first win after falling to Nevada (8-5) on March 10 and at Fresno State (3-2) on March 11
• The game against the Wolf Pack was the latest midweek opener for the Hornets since facing Nevada on March 14, 2017, after opening that season with series against Washington State, Northern Kentucky, No. 11 Washington, and Penn State
• Last season, Sacramento State finished 5-8 in midweek games, posting wins over Fresno State, Nevada (twice), San Francisco, and No. 17 Oregon
• The Hornets have lost their last five midweek games dating back to last season, dropping their final three contests in 2024 to Stanford (April 16), UC Davis (April 30), and Nevada (May 7)
• Of the last 15 midweek games, seven have been decided by two runs or fewer, with five of those seven decided by a single run

LOOKING AHEAD
• Following Tuesday's trip to Stockton, the Hornets officially kick-off their Western Athletic Conference schedule with a three-game series against UT Arlington on Friday (March 21) at 4 p.m.
• Games two and three follow on Saturday (March 22) at 2 p.m., and Sunday (March 23) at 1 p.m.
• The Hornets then host Fresno State on March 25 in a midweek game before leaving the state of California for competition for the first time with a WAC series at Tarleton State on March 28-30

HORNET SHORT HOPS…
• Tuesday's contest at Pacific is only the team's fifth road game of the year, having played 15 of its first 19 games within the friendly confines of John Smith Field
• Sacramento State has yet to leave the state of California competition, having traveled a total of 698 round-trip miles (as Google Maps flies) for games at San Francisco (twice), Pacific, and Fresno State
• After adding in Tuesday's trip to Pacific (another 82 miles), the mileage accrued this year would be less than half of next weekend's one-way trip to Stephenville, Texas (1,663 miles), for a three-game series at conference rival Tarleton State
• After Saturday's 4-3 win over Saint Mary's, nearly half (nine) of the team's 19 games have been decided by a single run, with the Hornets posting a 5-4 mark in those contests
• Junior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero is coming off one of his biggest weeks statistically as a Hornet, finishing the four-game week batting .438 (7-for-16) with two runs scored, three doubles, his first home run, and seven RBI
• The seven RBI for Pimentel-Guerrero accounted for half of the team's 14 runs on the week
• He posted multiple hits in three of the four games, including a Hornet career-high three hits and four RBI against Nevada on March 10, falling a triple short of the cycle
• That performance marked the third near-miss of a cycle this year by a Hornet after Jakob Poturnak needed a triple against Ball State in game four of the series on Feb. 22, and Ryan Christiansen needed a triple in game three against South Dakota State on Feb. 28
• One of Pimentel-Guerrero's seven hits was a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth in Saturday's opener against Saint Mary's
• It marked the third walk-off win for the Hornets this year including Christiansen's winning home run against Ball State on Feb. 21 and Poturnak's walk-off home run against Pacific on March 9
• Pimentel-Guerrero became the sixth Hornet to collect a game-winning RBI this year, joining Christiansen, Elie Kligman, Poturnak, and Tyler White with two apiece, and Luke Oyler, who has one on Feb. 26 against South Dakota State
• Poturnak's team-best 14-game hitting streak came to an end in the opening game of the doubleheader against Saint Mary's, but the sophomore still found a way to make an impact in the twinbill reaching base safely in both contests and having done so in each of his last 16 games
• Poturnak is hitting .368 (25-for-68) in that stretch, scoring 14 runs and driving in 15 more to go with three doubles and five of his team-high seven home runs
• Sophomore closer Kade Brown has made six appearances for the Hornets this year and has come away with a positive result each time, notching his first win of the season in the opener against Saint Mary's last Saturday to go with his five saves
• Despite allowing two hits against the Gaels, Brown buckled down and stranded the bases loaded in the ninth of a tied game, setting the stage for the Hornets' walk-off win, lowering his season ERA to 0.61 in the process and holding opponents to a .122 average
• Brown's five saves continue to rank among the top five in the nation, entering the week tied for fourth behind a trio of players with six
• The scoreless ninth extended Brown's run of scoreless innings to 10.0 dating back to the final two outs of his save against San Francisco on Feb. 17
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons pitched a season-high seven innings while throwing an efficient 73 pitches (54 strikes) in the opener against Saint Mary's, notching his third "quality start" of the year and the 16th of his career despite the no decision
• The Hornets are now 4-1 in Gibbons' five starts and 9-4 when the trio of Gibbons, Ethan Lay and Tyler Stewart take the mound for a start
• Senior left-hander Noah Lucchesi has been one of the most reliable arms out of the bullpen for the Hornets, allowing two earned over his last eight appearances, posting a 2.84 ERA and six strikeouts against only one walk and going 2-1 in that stretch en route to a team-high three wins this year
• As a staff, Sacramento State has walked only 58 batters in 170 innings and ranks No. 9 in the NCAA in walks allowed per nine innings (3.07)
• The Hornets, offensively, have walked nearly twice as much (101 - No. 73 in the NCAA) as their pitchers have allowed (58)