STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Jakob Poturnak, Luis Pimentel-Guerrero, and Ryan Christiansen all finished with home runs on the day, while Sacramento State scored in five of the nine innings on Friday evening, helping lift the Hornets to an 8-4 victory over host Tarleton State in a Western Athletic Conference series opener in Stephenville, Texas.
The Hornets won for the sixth time in their last eight outings, improving to 15-10 overall and 3-1 in WAC play. The Texans fell to 11-16 overall and 0-1 in league play, dropping their conference opener.
Senior Evan Gibbons (4-1) earned the win, allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out a pair over 5.2 innings of work before giving way to classmate Noah Lucchesi, who was nearly unhittable over his three innings of work before running into trouble in the ninth.
Sophomore Kade Brown entered with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth, striking out the Texans' home run leader, Tyson Drake, to pick up his seventh save in seven chances.
All three of the long balls played a key role on Friday, as Poturnak's three-run blast in the sixth turned a one-run game into a four-run lead, Pimentel-Guerrero's two-run shot in the seventh helped the Hornets inch away after the Texans had come within a pair, and Christiansen's solo shot capped the scoring in the eighth as Sacramento State improved to 6-1 in series openers.
The three home runs tied a season high, matching the output at San Francisco on Feb. 17, against South Dakota State on Feb. 27, and against Pacific on March 18, and marked the team's eighth game with multiple home runs.
Single runs in the third and the fourth staked the Hornets to the early lead.
Elie Kligman reached on an error by a Texan outfielder and moved to third on
Jacob Cortez's sacrifice. That brought up
Michael Perazzo, whose fly ball to center scored Kligman for the 1-0 lead.
An inning later,
JP Smith lead off with a double and moved all the way to third for Kligman, who brought him home with a single to center to make it 2-0.
After Tarleton State closed to within one with a run in the fifth, the Hornets tried to put some distance between the two teams as Smith was hit by a pitch and Sewell singled for Poturnak, who launched his eighth home run of the year over the wall in right centerfield for the 5-1 lead.
The Texans reeled the Hornets in once again with a pair in the sixth to make it a two-run game, but a Perazzo single led to Pimentel-Guerrero's third home run in the year for a 7-3 advantage, and Christiansen's shot over the wall in center — his fifth of the year — gave Sacramento State it's largest lead of the night.
Tarleton State wasn't out, however, threatening in the ninth and getting the tying run to the plate. Three straight singles plated a run and a walk loaded the bases for Drake, who had slugged six home runs on the season. After a pitching change brought Brown to the mound for the Hornets, the sophomore jumped ahead in the count 0-2 before getting the Texan power hitter to chase a pitch and end the game.
Eight of the nine Sacramento State starters finished with hits on the night, including a pair by Sewell — who extended his hitting streak to seven —and Perazzo. Seven different Hornets accounted for runs.
Jake Burcham (1-4) suffered the loss for Tarleton State, allowing three earned (four overall) on five hits and striking out two over five innings. Hunter Smith finished 3-for-4 to lead all hitters on the night.
The series continues on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. PT with game two.
