SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Elie Kligman's third home run of the season — a three-run shot with one out in the bottom of the eighth — erased a one-run Seattle U lead and helped lift the homestanding Sacramento State baseball team to a come-from-behind 6-4 win over the Redhawks on Friday evening at John Smith Field.
The Hornets improved to 19-14 overall and 7-3 in Western Athletic Conference play, winning their fourth consecutive league contest. Seattle U fell to 12-21 overall and 3-7 in conference.
Kligman's blast rallied his team after the visiting side had taken a one-run, 4-3, advantage in the fifth and allowed only one Sacramento State baserunner to reach over the next three innings.
A one-out walk to Ryan Christiansen was followed by a ground ball from Matt Masciangelo that went through the legs of a Redhawk fielder to put runners at the corners. After Head Coach Reggie Christiansen called time to talk things out, Kligman wasted little time in emptying the bases, taking the second pitch he saw from Isaac Hallam (2-5) over the wall in right field to make it a 6-4 game.
The ending wasn't without drama either, but preseason All-American closer
Kade Brown stranded the tying runs on base with a strikeout sandwiched between a pair of ground balls to secure the win and nail down his ninth save of the season.
Brown's nine saves are a new career single-season high, moving him into a tie with Sutter McLoughlin's 2014 total for ninth on the program's single-season list. His 17 career saves now give him sole possession of fourth on the all-time list, putting him nine back of both Mike Frame (1987-89) and Jack Zalasky (2019-23) for second.
Senior
Noah Lucchesi (4-1) picked up the win in relief of starter
Evan Gibbons, scattering two hits over his two shutout innings of work and striking out three. Gibbons, who had won his has three consecutive starts, was struck with the no-decision, allowing four runs on five hits and striking out five over the first six innings.
The two teams traded early runs as
Tyler White and
Luis Pimentel-Guerrero clubbed back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead. Seattle U tied the game with a solo home run in the second and added a two-run home run in the third to make it a 3-1 ballgame, but the Hornets clawed their way back.
Christiansen led off the fourth with a bloop double into short left field and, after Masciangelo was hit by a pitch for the second time on the day,
Michael Perazzo walked to load the bases for White, who skied a fly ball down the right field line that was caught in foul territory, but deep enough to score Christiansen.
With the deficit now down to just one, Pimentel-Guerrero followed three pitches later by dropping a single into center field to plate Masciangelo and tie the game at three apiece.
Pimentel-Guerrero finished with a pair of hits to lead the Hornets, while five other players added hits on the day. Christiansen walked twice and scored a pair of runs while Masciangelo added two more hit by pitches to his career total and now ranks tied for sixth on the school's career list with 30 along with Keith Torres (2019-22) and Tim Wheeler (2007-09).
Game two of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday night (April 12), while game three of the series on Sunday (April 13) will now begin at Noon, instead of the originally scheduled 1 p.m. start, due to changes in Seattle U's travel schedule.
