SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After winning their fourth Western Athletic Conference series of the season last week, the Sacramento State baseball team takes a break from league play for a run of four games beginning on Tuesday (April 22) with a trip to Reno to take on Nevada at 6 p.m.
PLAY BALL!
WHAT: Sacramento State (23-16, 10-5 WAC) at Nevada (22-17, 10-8 Mountain West)
WHEN: Tuesday, April 22, 2025
TIME: 6 PM PT
WHERE: Reno, Nev.
STADIUM: Don Weir Field at Peccole Park
WATCH LIVE: Mountain West Network
LIVE STATS: NevadaWolfPack.com
GAME NOTES: Nevada | Western Athletic Conference
WE'LL DO IT LIVE
• Tuesday's game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network
• 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 WOLF PACK
• Nevada enters the week with a 22-17 overall record and a 10-8 mark in Mountain West Conference play
• The Wolf Pack are coming off a series win over Washington State last weekend, taking the first two of a three-game series against the Cougars
• It was the second series win over Washington State this season after Nevada swept the Cougars at the end of March
• Of the team's 22 victories, 13 of those have come at home where the Wolf Pack are 13-7
• Junior infielder Billy Ham leads all regulars with a .353 average and a 1.062 OPS, while scoring 30 runs, slugging 17 doubles and six home runs to go with 31 RBI
• Five regulars are hitting better than .300 on the year while eight players have hit five-or-more home runs on the season, helping Nevada to a .294 average as a team
• As a staff, the Wolf Pack sport a 5.71 ERA while striking out 291 in 334.0 innings, while opponents are hitting .284 against them
SERIES NOTES
• One of the longest-running series in program history, Nevada leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 98-85-1, including a 59-34 lead in the Hornets' Division I history
• The series between former conference rivals dates back to the 1954 season according to available records, with the first meeting between the two listed as a doubleheader on March 8 of that year in Reno
• Tuesday marks the 185th all-time meeting between the two programs, which are tied for the second-most among Sacramento State opponents in school history behind the 240 meetings with UC Davis and matched by the 185 games against Pacific
• Sacramento State won both of those games by the scores of 11-3 and 10-2 — sparking a run of 16 straight wins to begin the series for the Hornets
• The Wolf Pack have won the last two meetings between the programs following an 8-5 victory at John Smith Field earlier this year on March 10
• The Hornets won two of the three midweek games between the two programs in 2024, posting a 21-9 win at home on March 19 and a 7-3 win in Reno on April 2
• Sacramento State is just 29-52 all time in Reno, but has won the last two trips up I-80 with a 12-8 win on April 25, 2023, and a 7-3 victory on April 2 of last season
• The Hornets' 21 runs in the first meeting on March 19 of last season were the most by either team in the history of the series dating back to May 4, 1997, when Nevada posted a 22-15 victory, and the most by a Sacramento State team in the series since a 23-8 Hornet win on March 14, 1983
CONFERENCE CALL
• Sacramento State has faced all eight baseball playing members of the current Mountain West Conference lineup, posting a combined 211-355-4 record against those teams
• This season, the Hornets are 0-1 against Nevada and 1-1 against Fresno State, with the only other games against the Mountain West coming against the Wolf Pack — the first on Tuesday and the second coming later in the year on May 6
• Last season, Sacramento State was 3-2 against Mountain West opponents, finishing 1-1 against Fresno State and taking 2-of-3 from Nevada
• The 184 meetings with the Wolf Park are the most against a current Mountain West opponent in school history, just ahead of the 181 meetings with the Bulldogs
• Sacramento State has won eight of its last 12 meetings with Mountain West opponents, posting a 4-1 record against the league in 2023 along with its 3-2 record in 2024
• The 85 wins over Nevada are the most against any one Mountain West opponent in school history, followed by the 48 wins over San Jose State and the 41 victories against Fresno State
MIDWEEK MADNESS
• Tuesday's game against Nevada is the eighth midweek game of the year for Sacramento State, which has posted a 3-4 record in its previous seven
• Three of the team's seven 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, fall at UC Davis on April 8 (14-0), and defeat the Aggies on the road (8-2) on April 15
• Of the team's last 20 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
• The Hornets have a bye from Western Athletic Conference play this weekend, hosting a three-game non-conference series against UC Riverside
• The series opener against the Highlanders begins at 4 p.m. on Friday (April 25), with Saturday's game two starting at 6 p.m. on Saturday (April 26) and Sunday's (April 27) finale beginning at 1 p.m.
• All three games will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform
• The series marks the third-straight weekend series at home for the Hornets, who will follow with seven of their next nine games on the road
HORNET SHORT HOPS
• Award season continues for a pair of Sacramento State players as sophomore closer Kade Brown was named the Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second time in his career on Monday (April 21) while freshman infielder Michael Perazzo was named to the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award watch list on Friday (April 18)
• The Hornets are coming off their fourth WAC series win in five tries after taking 2-of-3 from visiting California Baptist last week, sandwiching wins of 3-0 in the opener and 6-2 in the finale around an 8-4 loss in game two
• Overall, Sacramento State is 6-1-3 in weekend series this season, winning three straight
• The six series wins are the most for the Hornets since they won nine weekend series in 2022
• Sacramento State's two wins were the 15th and 16th of the year at John Smith Field, putting the Hornets four wins away from their first 20-win season at John Smith Field since 2023 (20-11) and the fifth under Head Coach Reggie Christiansen
• The 3-0 shutout in the opener against the Lancers marked the team's fourth of the season — the most since the 2021 and 2022 squads also blanked four opponents in back-to-back seasons
• A fifth shutout at any point would be the most since Sacramento State blanked five opponents in 2019
• The most shutouts in a single season under Head Coach Reggie Christiansen is nine in 2013
• Sacramento State's four shutouts this year rank No. 12 in the NCAA entering the week
• Sacramento State got all the runs it would need in the series-opening win over California Baptist thanks to one swing of the bat by sophomore Jakob Poturnak, who slugged his 11th home run of the year in the second inning — a three-run shot
• The 11 home runs are the most by a Hornet newcomer since freshmen JP Smith and Wehiwa Aloy set the school Division I era freshman record with 14 apiece in 2023
• Poturnak's total enters the week tied for second in the WAC along with Tarleton State's Tyson Drake and trailing only Utah Valley's Landon Frei, who has 12 on the year
• Senior Matt Masciangelo had his streak of reaching base safely ended at 23 games in the finale against the Lancers
• Senior Tyler White now has the longest active such streak at 16 games dating back to March 25 against Fresno State after collecting hits in three of the four games last week and drawing a walk in the other
• Perazzo recorded his 13th sacrifice of the year in the finale against California Baptist, keeping him in a tie for second in the NCAA along with Yale's Jeff Pierantoni and trailing only NC State's Matt Heavner (14)
• The 13 sacrifices are now tied with Dane Fujinaka (2014), Blake Crosby (2008), and Bob Stevens (1975) for the program's single-season record
• Two more sacrifices this year ties Perazzo with Fujinaka and Kyle Moses (2012-15) for 10th on the career list
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons improved to 6-1 with his win in the opener against California Baptist, matching his total from last season (6-5) and the best since Eli Saul finished 6-1 in his 15 starts in 2022
• A win this weekend against UC Riverside would make Gibbons the first Hornet pitcher to win at least seven games since Brady Rodriguez finished 8-2 and Scott Randall (7-2) and Jack Zalasky (7-2) each won seven games in 2021
• Gibbons posted his sixth "quality start" of the year in the series opener against California Baptist, scattering just six hits and striking out six without a walk over seven scoreless innings
• It was his 19th in 41 career starts as a Hornet
• Junior Ethan Lay added his fifth "quality start" in the series finale allowing one earned on six hits and striking out five over six innings against the Lancers
• The two performances gave Sacramento State's staff 13 "quality starts" on the year when you add in one each by Tyler Stewart and Colin Hunter
• The Hornets are 10-3 in those 13 "quality starts" this year
• Sophomore closer Kade Brown notched his 10th and 11th saves of the year in the series against CBU, moving into a tie for second on the school's single-season list while solidifying his hold on the No. 4 spot on the career list with 19
• Brown needs six saves this year to match Sutter McLoughlin's season record of 17 in 2013, while seven more saves will move Brown into a tie with Mike Frame (1987-89) and Jack Zalasky (2019-23) for second on the all-time list
• Entering the week, Sacramento State's pitching staff sports three of the top-10 individual ERAs in the WAC: Brown leads the league (2.18), with Gibbons ranking fourth (3.32), and Lay standing eighth (3.42)
• Andrew Monson is among the top 13, standing No. 12 in the conference with a 3.60 ERA
• Brown also leads the WAC in opponent batting average (.149), while Gibbons stands atop the conference in both innings (62.1) and wins (six)
