OREM, Utah — Sacramento State sent 10 batters to the plate and scored seven times in an explosive seventh inning, breaking open what was a one-run game en route to a 9-2 victory and a series win over Utah Valley on Sunday afternoon at UCCU Ballpark.
In winning their sixth consecutive weekend series, the Hornets improved to 30-22 overall and 14-7 in Western Athletic Conference play, reaching 30 wins in a season for the 12th time in 14 complete seasons under Head Coach Reggie Christiansen.
Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Sacramento State lowered its "magic number" to two, holding a one-game lead over both Abilene Christian and Grand Canyon in the standings as well as holding the head-to-head tiebreakers against both schools after sweeping the Wildcats and taking 2-of-3 from the Lopes earlier this season.
With the defeat, the host Wolverines fell to 28-24 overall and 13-11 in conference play, wrapping up its league schedule in the process.
It was a pitcher's duel through the first five innings on Sunday afternoon with Sacramento State starter Carson Latimer and Utah Valley starter Jacob Heppner posting zeros through three before Kade Brown (3-2) entered in relief after one batter in the fourth.
The Hornets were the ones to break the scoreless deadlock in the sixth, finally chasing Heppner, who had limited them to just a hit and two baserunners through five. A walk to Michael Perazzo, a bunt single by Tyler White, and a sacrifice by Luis Pimentel-Guerrero put a pair into scoring position before Heppner was lifted.
Reliever Cooper Littledike entered in relief and promptly uncorked a wild pitch, scoring Perazzo from third for the first run of the game, and JP Smith followed with a single to left, scoring White to make it 2-0.
The Wolverines scratched one of the runs back in the home half and had the tying run at third with no outs before Brown got a strikeout then induced Jimmy De Anda into a line-out double play back to the mound to end the inning.
Sacramento State then made its move in the seventh as a walk and a single forced a pitching change before the Hornets loaded the bases with another bunt single by Perazzo. White then drew a walk to force home a run and Pimentel-Guerrero followed with a two-run single through the drawn-in infield for make it 5-1.
With one out and two in scoring position,
Jakob Poturnak brought home two more with a bouncing single up the middle and
Cameron Sewell added a two-run double that scored both Poturnak and
Jacob Cortez for a 9-1 advantage.
Andrew Monson then picked up his teammate in relief in the seventh, entering with the bases loaded and no outs before inducing a 5-2-3 double play and a fly ball out to end the inning, then stranded two more Utah Valley runners in the eighth.
Monson ran into a bit of trouble in the ninth as a pair of singles and an error loaded the bases before another base hit pushed across the second run of the game for Utah Valley. However,
Noah Lucchesi entered and quickly shut down the rally, following up his three-strikeout relief appearance on Saturday with two more strikeouts and a fly ball to end the game.
Brown went three innings, giving up a run on four hits and striking out a pair of pick up his third win of the season in relief of Latimer, who went the first three innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three.
Cortez finished 3-for-3 with a run scored, while
Myles Walton was a career-best 3-for-5 and finished a home run short of the cycle, adding a third-inning double for his team's first hit and an eighth-inning triple. Poturnak finished with a pair of hits to go with his two RBI, while five other Hornet hitters added hits on the day.
The final regular season series will be played at
John Smith field this coming week, welcoming Utah Tech to Northern California for three games. The series begins on Thursday (May 15) at 6 p.m., followed by a 4 p.m. start on Friday (May 16), and a Noon start on Saturday (May 17). The Sacramento State seniors will be honored as part of "Senior Day" ceremonies following the final out of the series finale.
