SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the second time in a week, the Sacramento State baseball team will take on Causeway rival UC Davis as the Hornets and Aggies meet on Tuesday (April 15) at 6 p.m. at Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium.
PLAY BALL!
WHAT: Sacramento State (20-15, 8-4 WAC) at UC Davis (16-18, 5-10 Big West)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 15, 2025
TIME: 6 PM PT
WHERE: Davis, Calif.
STADIUM: Phil Swimley Field at Dobbins Stadium
WATCH LIVE: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: UCDavisAggies.com
GAME NOTES: UC Davis | Western Athletic Conference
WE'LL DO IT LIVE
• Tuesday's game will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform
• Live Stats will also be available for the contest
• Links to all of the above are available on the baseball schedule page at HornetSports.com
ABOUT THE AGGIES
• UC Davis enters the week with a 16-18 overall record and a 5-10 mark in the Big West Conference
• After defeating Sacramento State in a midweek game last Tuesday (April 8), the Aggies lost 2-of-3 against No. 13 UC Irvine at home, taking game two by a 7-3 score inbetween losses in games one and three
• 11 of the team's 16 wins this season have come on their home field
• Junior P/OF Braydon Wooldridge leads the team in hitting with a .346 average — the only UC Davis regular hitting better than .300 on the year
• Wooldridge has slugged seven doubles, a pair of home runs, and driven in a team-high 19 runs this year
• The two home runs are tied for the team lead as UC Davis has slugged only 14 round-trippers in 2025
• As a staff, the Aggies have combined for a 4.32 ERA and a .274 average against, striking out 269 in 302.1 innings of work
SERIES NOTES
• Tuesday marks the 240th all-time meeting between Sacramento State and UC Davis on the diamond according to available records that date back to 1950
• Records show that the two programs have played at least once in every season since 1950 with the exception of three years from 2020-22
• Sacramento State leads the all-time series by a 144-94-1 count, including a 46-40 lead in the Hornets' Division I era
• UC Davis, however, has won the last four straight after sweeping a trio of midweek games last year: two in Sacramento (10-5 on March 5 and 3-2 on April 30) and one in Davis (3-2 on March 26), and defeating the Hornets in Davis a week ago on April 8
• Sacramento State's last win in the series came on May 9, 2023, by a 7-5 score at home
• There is something riding on the regular season "series" between the two long-time rivals as the winner of the three-game "series" during the year earns the right to host two of the three games in the following season
• The Hornets won the "series" in 2023, taking the two games at home that year, before the Aggies' earned the sweep in 2024
• Sacramento State is only 55-50 when crossing the Causeway compared to an 88-39 record at home in the series
• The Hornets have lost their last three trips to Davis, last winning an 8-2 decision on April 17, 2018
CONFERENCE CALL
• Tuesday's game marks the second against a Big West Conference opponent for the Hornets this season
• Along with the one remaining midweek games against the Aggies, Sacramento State will host a three-game non-conference series against UC Riverside on April 25-27
• The Hornets are a combined 296-383-3 (.436) against the current Big West baseball alignment
• Sacramento State has lost its last six games against Big West opponents, last posting a win against then-No. 22 UC Santa Barbara in the opener of a three-game series against the Gauchos on Feb. 23 of last year by a 6-2 score
• After the 144 wins against UC Davis, the Hornets have won 29 games against both UCSB and Hawai'i, and 26 more against CSUN
MIDWEEK MADNESS
• Tuesday's game against UC Davis is the seventh midweek game of the year for Sacramento State, which has posted a 2-4 record in its previous six
• Three of the team's six midweek contests have been decided by a single run: A 3-2 loss at Fresno State on March 11, a 4-3 win over the Bulldogs on March 25, and a 6-5 loss to California on April 1
• The other three midweek contests saw the Hornets fall to Nevada (8-5) on March 10, defeat Pacific (13-3) on the road on March 18, and fall at UC Davis on April 8 (14-0)
• Of the team's last 19 midweek games, nine have been decided by two runs or fewer, with seven of those nine decided by a single run
• The game against the Wolf Pack earlier this year 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
LOOKING AHEAD
• It's a busy week for the Hornets, who host WAC rival California Baptist in a three-game series following Tuesday's clash with the Aggies
• The series with the Lancers begins on Thursday (April 17) and runs through Saturday (April 19)
• First pitch for the opener is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a 4 p.m. start on Friday, and a Noon start for Saturday's finale
• Thursday's match-up against CBU will be shown on the ESPN+ platform, with Friday and Saturday's contests streamed live on the WAC International platform
HORNET SHORT HOPS
• After taking 2-of-3 from Seattle U this past weekend, the Hornets are 5-1-3 in weekend series this season, winning their second straight
• The only series loss came against Tarleton State on the road (March 28-30) while splitting a pair of four-game series against San Francisco (Feb. 14-17) and Ball State (Feb. 20-22) as well as a weather-shortened two-game set with Saint Mary's (March 15)
• Last weekend against the Redhawks marked the first of three-straight weekends at home for Sacramento State, which continues this week against California Baptist and concludes next week with a three-game non-conference series against UC Riverside
• The two wins over Seattle U last weekend gave the Hornets wins No. 13 and No. 14 at John Smith Field this year, surpassing last year's total and putting them six wins shy of their first 20-win season at home since 2023 (20-11)
• Junior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero leads the Hornets with a .450 average in six midweek games this year, adding a pair of doubles, two home runs, and driving in a team-high nine runs
• Sophomore Jakob Poturnak (.391) and sophomore Cameron Sewell (.316) are also hitting well in midweek contests, with Sewell adding two more home runs and a team-high six runs scored
• Sacramento State played to two more one-run decisions last weekend against Seattle U, winning game two by a 7-6 score in extra innings before falling by a 2-1 score in the finale
• The two results marked the 13th and 14th one-run games for the Hornets through 35 games in 2025, posting an 8-6 record in those contests
• The eight one-run victories are the most for Sacramento State since it finished with 10 one-run wins in 17 chances in 2022 (58 total games)
• It took 3:45 to finish off the Hornets' 11-inning win over the Redhawks in game two — the 10th time that they have played three hours or longer this year and tied for the fourth-longest game of the season
• That game marked only the second of those contest to go extra innings
• Sacramento State has played four extra-inning games this season, posting a 3-1 record and winning the last three
• Senior Matt Masciangelo — who returned to the lineup in the first meeting with UC Davis a week ago after missing 27 games due to injury — walked off Seattle U in that game two win, giving the Hornets their fifth walk-off win of the year and their first since Tyler White victimized UT Arlington in an 11-inning win on March 22
• Three of Sacramento State's five walk-off wins this year have been in extra innings
• With the win on Friday against Seattle U, the Hornets improved to 8-1 in series openers this season (winning their last seven straight)
• Preseason All-American and NCBWA Stopper of the Year candidate Kade Brown posted his ninth save of the season in the game two win over Seattle U, setting a new single-season career high
• His nine saves moved Brown into a tie with Sutter McLoughlin's 2014 total for ninth on the program's single-season chart, while Brown's 17 saves now rank fourth on the all-time list — nine back of both Mike Frame (1987-89) and Jack Zalasky (2019-23) for second
• The nine saves are tied for third in the nation entering the week behind Clemson's Lucas Mahlstedt (12)
• Brown also evened his record with the win in game two of the series, pitching the final 2.1 innings and striking out three
• Entering the week, Brown ranks third in the WAC in ERA (2.48) and leads the league with a .160 average against, while standing second in fewest hits allowed (16), and tied for second in fewest runs allowed (nine) — along with teammate Noah Lucchesi — among qualifying pitchers
• Lucchesi picked up his fourth win in relief for the Hornets in the opener with the Redhawks, striking out three and allowing two hits in two innings
• His four wins are second on the team and tied for third behind Evan Gibbons' 5-1 record — which are tied with Utah Valley's Jacob Heppner (5-1) for the most in the WAC entering the week
• Lucchesi has also walked only six hitters on the year (against 24 strikeouts), which rank tied for the fifth-fewest in the WAC
• Gibbons leads the WAC in innings pitched (55.1) and is 13th in ERA (3.74) — one of three Hornets in the top 13 in the league in the latter along with Brown and Ethan Lay (No. 11 at 3.70)
• The Hornets' pitching staff enters the week leading the WAC in ERA (4.77) while holding opponents to the fewest runs (197), the fewest earned runs (167), and walking the third-fewest batters (119) in the league this year, while the team's 3.40 walks per nine innings are second in the conference
• Masciangelo's two HBPs in the opener against Seattle U gave him 30 for his career, ranking him tied for sixth on the school's career list along with Keith Torres (2019-22) and Tim Wheeler (2007-09)
• Junior JP Smith slugged his sixth home run of the season — and his second grand slam of the year (Feb. 17 at San Francisco) — in game two against Seattle U
• The slam was also the fourth of Smith's career, standing as one of only seven Hornets with multiple grand slams in a career and breaking a tie with Tim Wheeler for the most by a Hornet in school history according to available records
• Pimentel-Guerrero finished with two hits in the opener against Seattle U and combined for four walks over the next two games to reach base safely in each of his last 18 games — tying Jakob Poturnak for the longest streak by a Hornet this season alone and the longest since Jorge Bojorquez went 19 consecutive contests from April 12 to May 16 in 2024
• Masciangelo, however, owns the longest active streak of reaching base safely, doing so seven times this season combined with the final 14 games of the 2024 campaign
• Poturnak ranks tied for third in the league with 49 hits, while standing 12th in average (.331), tied for seventh in slugging (.588), tied for 11th in RBI (29), and tied for the conference lead with 10 home runs
• Freshman Michael Perazzo leads the WAC with 12 sacrifice hits on the year — a total that also ranks second in the NCAA behind NC State's Matt Heavner entering the week
• Tyler White's fourth triple of the year in the series finale against Seattle U is the most since Wehiwa Aloy finished with five "three-baggers" in 2023
• White, who stands three triples shy of breaking into the top 10 in school history for a career, ranks No. 21 in the nation in triples entering the week behind NCAA leader Connor Westenburg of McNeese State
