SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons and sophomore closer Kade Brown combined on a seven-hit shutout while Jakob Poturnak plated all the runs the Hornets needed with one second-inning swing, lifting the Sacramento State baseball team to a 3-0 series-opening victory over California Baptist on Thursday night at John Smith Field.
The Hornets, who have now won seven of their last nine overall, improved to 22-15 overall and 9-4 in Western Athletic Conference play with the victory while winning their eighth consecutive series opener. Thursday's shutout was also the team's fourth of the season — the most since the 2022 squad also blanked four opponents.
With the loss, the Lancers fell to 21-17 and 4-6 in league play.
Gibbons (6-1) won for the fourth time in his last five starts, going seven innings while scattering six hits and striking out six without a walk. He stranded five base runners on the night, including three in scoring position and allowed only one runner to reach third.
Brown, a Preseason All-American and Stopper of the Year candidate, then entered in the eighth to get the final six outs and picked up his 10th save of the year, working around an error in the eighth and a lead-off single in the ninth to close out the contest. He struck out a pair in each inning and induced a pair of fly balls to nail down the win.
The 10 saves by Brown are tied for sixth on the school's single-season list along with Tanner Dalton (2018), Mike Frame (1988), and Michael Penbera (2001), while his 18th career save solidified his hold on the No. 4 spot on the all-time list.
Sacramento State scored all it would need in the second inning as
JP Smith led off with an infield single that was hit into the shift before
Elie Kligman followed with a single through the left side.Â
That brought up Poturnak who sent the first pitch he saw from CBU starter Cody New (4-3) over the wall in left field for a 3-0 lead and his team-high 11th home run of the season.
The Hornets had other chances, but New dodged his way through traffic all night over his seven innings of work, stranding a pair in the third, another in scoring position in the fourth, and two more in the fifth. New allowed seven hits and struck out seven with a walk before giving way to Julian Orozco and Sam Burgess in the eighth.
Smith and Kligman each finished 2-for-3 and reached base in three of their four plate appearances, while
Matt Masciangelo and
Ryan Christiansen also collected singles. Masciangelo's single in the fifth kept his streak of reaching base safely alive at 22 consecutive games dating back to last year.
Game two of the series is scheduled for Friday (April 18) at 4 p.m. at
John Smith Field.
