SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Tied for first place in the Western Athletic Conference entering the week, the Sacramento State baseball team breaks from league play, filling its bye week with a three-game series against UC Riverside at John Smith Field to kick-off a run that will see the Hornets play their next five games in five days. This weekend's series against the Highlanders begins on Friday (April 25) at 4 p.m., followed by game two on Saturday night (April 26) at 6 p.m., and Sunday's (April 27) series finale at 1 p.m.

PLAY BALL!
WHAT: UC Riverside (13-25, 4-17 Big West) at Sacramento State (23-17, 10-5 WAC)
WHEN: Friday-Sunday, April 25-27, 2025
TIME: 4 PM PT / 6 PM PT / 1 PM PT
WHERE: Sacramento, Calif.
STADIUM: John Smith Field
TICKETS: HornetSports.com
FOLLOW:
Game 1: ESPN+ | WAC International | Live Stats
Game 2: ESPN+ | WAC International | Live Stats
Game 3: ESPN+ | WAC International | Live Stats

GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | UC Riverside | Western Athletic Conference

WE'LL DO IT LIVE
• All three contests will be shown on both the ESPN+ and WAC International live streaming platforms
• Live stats will also be available for all three games
• Links to follow along are available on the baseball schedule page at HornetSports.com

ABOUT THE HIGHLANDERS
• UC Riverside enters the week with a 13-25 overall record and a 4-17 mark in the Big West Conference
• The Highlanders are coming off a 7-6 loss to UNLV in a midweek contest at home on Tuesday (April 22) and a series loss to league rival UC San Diego last weekend
• UCR has lost 17 of its last 20 games, claiming single wins over the Tritons (April 19), Cal State Bakersfield (April 5), and San Diego State (March 25)
• Sacramento State will be the fourth WAC opponent for the Highlanders this season, posting a 2-2 record against Utah Valley, a 3-1 mark against Utah Tech, and a 2-0 record against California Baptist
• UC Riverside has last its last six weekend series after taking 2-of-3 from Hawai'i in its first Big West series
• Junior outfielder Robert Pitts leads all Highlander regulars with a .327 average, scoring 16 runs, slugging 10 doubles, and driving in 16 runs while stealing 19 bases in 22 total attempts
• As a team, UC Riverside is collectively batting .250 on the year over 38 games, stealing 43 bags
• Junior right-hander Matthew Flores leads the Highlanders' staff, posting a 3-4 record and a 3.66 ERA, striking out 45 over 39.1 innings while holding opponents to a .262 average

SERIES NOTES
• UC Riverside leads the all-time series with Sacramento State, 24-6
• This weekend marks the first meeting between the two programs in over a decade dating back to a three-game series in Riverside in 2014
• The Highlanders won both of those games by the scores of 9-1 and 6-1
• The Hornets' last victory in the series came on Feb. 24, 2013, taking the finale of a four-game series by a 7-4 score in Sacramento as the two teams split the set
• UCR has won 15 of the 17 games between the two played in Sacramento

CONFERENCE CALL
• This weekend's series against UC Riverside marks the second Big West Conference opponent for the Hornets this season following a split of two midweek contests against UC Davis
• The Hornets and the Aggies will meet in a third and final midweek game on April 29 in Sacramento
• The Hornets are a combined 297-383-3 against the current Big West baseball alignment
• Sacramento State's 8-2 road win over UC Davis on April 15 snapped a six-game skid against Big West opponents
• After the 145 wins against the Aggies, the Hornets have won 29 games against both UC Santa Barbara and Hawai'i, and 26 more against CSUN

PERAZZO ON BROOKS WALLACE WATCH
• Freshman infielder Michael Perazzo was named as one of the top 100 shortstops from across the nation named to the initial watch list for the 2025 Brooks Wallace Award on April 18
• The award honors the nation's top shortstop and will be presented by the College Baseball Foundation later this year and is named after former Texas Tech shortstop Brooks Wallace, who passed away at the age of 27 from leukemia
• Perazzo is one of 11 true or redshirt freshmen out of the group of 100 and is one of four from the Western Athletic Conference along with Abilene Christian's Nick Arias, Grand Canyon's Emilio Barreras, and Tarleton State's Ike Shirey

BROWN MAKES MIDSEASON STOPPER LIST
• Sophomore closer Kade Brown was one of 56 relievers from across the country named to the midseason watch list for the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Award on Wednesday (April 23)
• Brown is one of nine pitchers on the midseason list that were named to the initial watch list back in February and one of two that also earned NCBWA Preseason All-America honors along with Tennessee's Nate Snead
• He is also one of four Hornets to make the midseason list for the award since its inception in 2005 joining Sutter McLoughlin (2013-14), Tyler Beardsley (2016), and Jack Zalasky (2023)
• The finalists will be announced on June 4, with the winner named on June 13 at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

AND ANOTHER ONE...
• Preceding Wednesday's "Stopper of the Year" announcement, Brown was named the WAC Pitcher of the Week on Monday (April 21) for the second time in his career
• Brown earned the save in both of the team's wins over California Baptist last weekend, giving him 11 on the season (more on that later) while striking out six over his four innings of work
• He is the third Hornet pitcher to win the award in 2025, joining teammates Evan Gibbons (Feb. 24) and Ethan Lay (March 10)
• The three pitcher of the week awards this year are the most in a single-season for Sacramento State since 2021 when Travis Adams won it twice and Scott Randall added a third
• Since 2013, the most pitcher of the week awards won by Sacramento State is four during the 2018 campaign when Tanner Dalton and Parker Brahms won two apiece

"SERIES"-OUS BUSINESS
• After taking 2-of-3 from California Baptist at home last weekend, the Hornets clinched their third consecutive series victory and improved to 6-1-3 in weekend series this season
• The only series loss came against Tarleton State on the road (March 28-30), while Sacramento State split 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)
• The six series wins are the most for the Hornets since they won nine weekend series in 2022
• Friday night's are alright for Sacramento State, who improved to 9-1 in series openers this year with their 3-0 win over the Lancers last weekend
• The Hornets have won their last eight series openers dating back to a 4-3 loss against Ball State on Feb. 20
• Sacramento State is 5-5 in game two's and 5-4 in game three's
• The Hornets are outscoring opponents, 65-31, in the first game, 61-59 in game two, and 48-44 in the series finale

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
• Sacramento State's two wins over California Baptist gave the Hornets their 15th and 16th victories of the year at John Smith Field, surpassing last year's win total and putting them four wins shy of their first 20-win season at home since 2023 (20-11)
• Under Head Coach Reggie Christiansen, Sacramento State has won 20-or-more games at home four times in his tenure

SHUT(OUT) THE FRONT DOOR
• The Hornets' 3-0 victory in the series opener against California Baptist was the fourth shutout of the season for Sacramento State -- the most since the 2021 and 2022 squads also blanked four opponents in back-to-back seasons
• A fifth shutout at any point this year would be the most since the Hornets blanked five opponents during the 2019 campaign
• The most shutouts in a single season under Head Coach Reggie Christiansen is nine in 2013
• Entering the weekend, Sacramento State's four shutouts rank No. 13 in the NCAA

TAKE TWO
• Junior JP Smith knocked his team- and career-high 16th double of the year on Tuesday night at Nevada, putting him just three shy of breaking into the top 10 on the school's single-season chart
• Should he accomplish the feat, he would be the first Hornet to reach the top 10 since Steven Moretto (22) and Ryan Walstad (20) both did so in 2021
• Already the program's career record holder for home runs with 43, Smith needs nine more doubles to reach the all-time top 10 in that category
• His 125 career RBI are also three shy of the top 10

THE SAFETY DANCE
• Both Matt Masciangelo (23 games) and Luis Pimentel-Guerrero (19 games) had their streaks of reaching base safely both come to an end last week, but Tyler White's run continues to grow
• Following his three-hit performance on Tuesday against Nevada, White has now reached base safely in 17 straight contests
• It is the fourth-longest run by a Hornet this year behind Masciangelo, Pimentel-Guerrero, and Jakob Poturnak (18 games)
• Dating back to March 25 against Fresno State, White has hit safely in 14 of the 17 games while drawing a walk in the others to keep the streak alive
• In that stretch, White is hitting .333 (22-for-66) with 17 runs scored and 14 RBI, adding five doubles, a pair of triples, two home runs and eight walks
• He also has five multi-hit games during his streak, bringing his season total to 13 -- which ranks third on the team behind Pimentel-Guerrero and Poturnak, who have 14 apiece

JAKOB POTUR-"JACK"
• Poturnak slugged his team-best 11th home run of the season as part of the Hornets' game one victory, providing Sacramento State with all the runs it would need in a 3-0 win
• The 11 home runs are the most by a Hornet newcomer since then-freshmen JP Smith and Wehiwa Aloy set the school's Division I era freshman record with 14 apiece in 2023
• Poturnak's 11 round-trippers are tied for third in the WAC entering the weekend
• With Poturnak's 10 home runs, the Hornets have now had at least one player reach double digits in the category for the fourth consecutive season
• Poturnak ranks eighth in the league in slugging (.558) and is tied for seventh in the WAC with his 51 hits on the season

WINNER, WINNER CHICKEN DINNER
• Both of Sacramento State's game-winning hits against California Baptist came via the home run last weekend with Jakob Poturnak and JP Smith doing the honors
• Smith's two-run shot in the first inning -- his seventh home run of the season -- was his first game-winner of the season and the seventh of his career, matching Eli Kligman for the most among active Hornet hitters
• Smith became the 12th different Sacramento State player to post a game-winning RBI this year
• Aside from the seven by Smith and Kligman, Poturnak and White have three each, followed by two from Perazzo and Ryan Christiansen
• Freshman Orlando Cobarrubias, Jacob Cortez, Matt Masciangelo, Luke Oyler, Luis Pimentel-Guerrero, and Cameron Sewell have one apiece
• All four of Poturnak's game-winning RBI this year have come via the home run, while 10 of the Hornets' 23 have come via the long ball

WE DEMAND... A SACRIFICE!
• Freshman Michael Perazzo has given himself up more than all but one other player in the NCAA entering this weekend's games, ranking tied for second with 13 sacrifice hits
• He trails only NC State's Matt Heavner (14) nationally and leads the WAC by seven
• Perazzo's 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 ties Perazzo with Fujinaka and Kyle Moses (2012-15) for 10th on the career list

MORE THAN ONE FOR MICHAEL
• When he's not moving runners into scoring position, Perazzo has been red-hot at the plate as of late
• Perazzo has collected multiple hits in a game nine times in his last 16 outings, including a career-high three hits, three runs scored, and four RBI in the series finale at Abilene Christian
• His 11 multi-hit games are fifth on the team
• Over his last 16 games, Perazzo is batting .382 (21-for-55) with 11 runs scored and 10 RBI, adding four doubles and a pair of home runs

MASCIANGEL-OW!
• Add another HBP to Masciangelo's career tally after the senior was plunked on Tuesday night against Nevada in Reno
• The bruise gave the senior 31 for his career, ranking him tied for fifth on the school's career list with Gary Johnson (2006-07)
• Masciangelo stands 12 back of the career record held by David Del Grande (2011-14), while his 27 HBPs in 2024 remain the single-season record

EVAN ALMIGHTY
• Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons enters this weekend's series with a 6-1 overall record, leading the WAC in victories following the Hornets' series-opening win over California Baptist
• The victory was his fourth in his last five starts as the senior has posted a 2.70 ERA over his last 33.1 innings, striking out 22 against seven walks
• Gibbons' six victories match his total from last season (6-5) and are the most since Eli Saul finished 6-1 in his 15 starts in 2022
• Now with 17 wins in his career, two more victories this year will move Gibbons into a tie for 10th on the school's all-time list with Sam Long (2014-16) and Rocco Buffolino (1986-87)
• 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 in 2021
• Gibbons leads the league in innings pitched (62.1) and ranks fourth in the WAC in ERA (3.32) -- one of four Hornets in the top 13 in the latter along with Brown (1st - 2.18), Ethan Lay (8th - 3.42), and Andrew Monson (13th - 3.86)
• He averages 6.23 innings per start -- second in the WAC -- while standing third in fewest runs allowed per game (3.47)
• Since losing his first start of the year against San Francisco, Gibbons has gone 6-0 with three no-decisions, posting a 2.50 ERA in 57.2 innings to go along with a better than 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (42 strikeouts against 12 walks)
• Gibbons has six "quality starts" in his eight overall this year, giving him 19 in 41 starts as a Hornet

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
• Preseason All-American and Stopper of the Year candidate Kade Brown notched his 10th and 11th saves of the season last week against CBU
• Brown hasn't allowed a run over his last 10.2 innings, posting a 1-0 record with four saves over his last five appearances, scattering just three hits and striking out 12 against three walks
• His save total puts him third in the NCAA entering the week, trailing only Clemson's Lucas Mahlstedt (15) and Alabama's Carson Ozmer (13)
• The 11 saves are a new career high and moved him into a tie with Mike Frame (1989), Tyler Beardsley (2016), and Jack Zalasky (2022-23) for second on the school's single-season list
• Now with 19 career saves, Brown ranks fourth on the school's all-time list -- seven back of both Frame (1987-89) and Zalasky (2019-23) for second
• Entering the weekend, Brown leads the WAC in ERA (2.18), opponent batting average (.149), fewest hits allowed (17), fewest runs allowed (nine), and fewest earned runs allowed (eight), while standing fourth in strikeouts per game (11.18)

"LAY"-MAN'S TERMS
• Junior right-hander Ethan Lay collected his third win in the finale against California Baptist, allowing one earned on six hits and striking out five over six innings of work
• The start was his fifth "quality start" of the year
• In his three wins this year, Lay has posted a 2.54 ERA and a .258 average against in 17.2 innings, allowing just five earned on 17 hits, walking five, and striking out 12
• In his two defeats, Lay's ERA is a run higher (3.55), giving up five runs on 13 hits while striking out 11 and walking only two over 12.2 innings
• In his six "quality starts," Lay is 2-2 with a no-decision and a 1.99 ERA, scattering just 24 hits over 31.2 innings while striking out 30 and walking only five

MONSON THE MAGNIFICENT
• Senior right-hander Andrew Monson has been one of the most reliable arms out of the Hornet bullpen as of late, allowing just three earned runs over his last 11 appearances (11.1 innings) for a 2.38 ERA
• During that stretch, Monson has scattered 14 hits, walking only two and striking out 10 while going 1-0 with a pair of saves

BUYING STOCK IN BRYCE
•  Sophomore right-hander Bryce Stockton has made the most out of his last eight appearances out of the bullpen, posting a 1.74 ERA while allowing just two runs on 11 hits in 10.1 innings of work

WALK THE WALK
• The Hornet pitching staff has been stingy when it comes to handing out free passes this year, walking only 130 batters -- a total that ranks second in the WAC entering the week
• Walking an average of 3.26 batters per game, Sacramento State ranks No. 10 in the NCAA in walks per game while standing No. 40 in the nation -- and No. 1 in the WAC -- in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.43)

"QUALITY" YOU CAN COUNT ON
• Sacramento State pitchers have thrown 13 "quality starts" this season, six of those by senior right-hander Evan Gibbons, five from righty Ethan Lay, and one each by senior right-hander Tyler Stewart and junior right-hander Colin Hunter
• Lay has "quality starts" in games against South Dakota State, Pacific, UT Arlington, Seattle U, and California Baptist, while Stewart (March 8 at Pacific) and Hunter (March 18 at Pacific) accomplished the feat for the first time this year
• All told, the Hornets are 10-3 in those 13 "quality starts," including a 6-0 record in all six of Gibbons' "quality" outings this year

PLEASE HOLD
• Working late into games this season, Lucchesi and Monson are tied for the team lead with four "holds" on the year, while Sean Carey picked up his first on Tuesday night at UC Davis

CYCLE SEEKING
• For the second time this season, Tyler White has come this close to hitting for the cycle, finishing with a double and a home run as part of his 3-for-5 night at UC Davis on April 15
• It was the sixth time that a Hornet hitter has had a near miss on one this year
• White ended his day 3-for-4 against UT Arlington on March 21 with a double and a triple, missing out on only the home run
• Other Hornets to come close in 2025: Perazzo against Abilene Christian on April 6 (triple), Jakob Poturnak in the finale against Ball State on Feb. 22 (triple), Ryan Christiansen in game three against South Dakota State on Feb. 28 (triple), and Luis Pimentel-Guerrero against Nevada on March 10 (triple)
• The last Hornet to hit for the cycle was Jason Beeman at CSUN on April 24, 1994, who finished 4-for-6 with two runs scored and six RBI, while also throwing a complete game, allowing six runs on 13 hits and striking out three in a 14-6 victory