SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State Head Coach Reggie Christiansen was named the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year while senior right-hander Evan Gibbons became the first Hornet pitcher to be named the league's top hurler, headlining a list of five student-athletes named to the conference's postseason honor roll as voted on by the head coaches on Monday.
The five Sacramento State all-conference selections are a league high and the most for the program since 2021, while the four first-team honorees are the most in program history since the Hornets rejoined the WAC in 2006.
In leading the program to its third conference regular season title and its sixth WAC trophy overall, Christiansen picked up the league's top coaching honor for the third time in his time at the helm, joining his awards in 2012 and 2014. He has guided the Hornets to 12 seasons of 30-or-more wins in 14 full seasons and has won 457 games in his career at Sacramento State — the second-most among head coaches in program history.
Gibbons earned All-WAC first-team laurels for the first time in his career in addition to his pitcher of the year honor, while junior JP Smith was an All-WAC selection for the third time in his career and earned a spot on the first team for a second time in those three seasons to go along with his 2023 award and his 2024 second-team honor.
Joining Gibbons as first-time all-conference honorees are sophomore Kade Brown (first team), outfielder Luis Pimentel-Guerrero (first team), and infielder Jakob Poturnak (second team).
Enjoying one of the finest seasons by a Hornet pitcher, Gibbons enters this week's conference tournament with a 9-2 record and a 4.34 ERA in 14 starts, allowing 40 earned on 86 hits in 83 innings, striking a team-high 61 against only 20 walks and holding opponents to a. .268 average. In conference play, he was 6-1 with a 4.31 ERA in eight starts, striking out 35 against 10 walks in 48 innings.
His career-high nine victories this year enter the week ranked tied for 12th in the NCAA and are the most by a Sacramento State pitcher since Austin Root finished 11-3 in 2018, while leading the WAC in victories, innings pitched, and innings per game (5.93), while standing tied for 10th in strikeouts, 12th in ERA, and ninth in both fewest walks allowed per game (2.17) and fewest runs allowed per game (4.55).
Smith wrapped up the regular season with a .296 average to go with 42 runs scored, 18 doubles, 12 home runs, and a team-high 51 RBI. In conference play, he hit even better with a .311 average, slugging eight of his 12 home runs against league pitching and driving in 27. He finished with 17 multi-hit games (fourth on the team), including six three-hit performances and a career-high four hits against Abilene Christian on April 6, while driving in multiple runs 13 times (tied for the team lead), including a career-high tying five against UC Riverside on April 25.
With two more home runs this past weekend, Smith extended his school record to 48, which ranks sixth on the Western Athletic Conference's all-time list.
En route to his first career All-WAC honor, Brown was in the national spotlight all year, named a National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-American and making both the preseason and midseason watch list for the organization's "Stopper of the Year" award. He is also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser National Player of the Year award.
Brown enters the postseason with a 3-2 record and a 3.00 ERA to go with 13 saves — the latter entering the week ranked tied for third in the nation. He has struck out 48 hitters in 42 innings, walking only 18 batters and holding opponents to a .208 average. His 13 saves stand second for a single season in school history, while his 21 career saves are fourth in only two seasons on the mound for the Hornets.
Entering the tournament, Brown leads the league in saves, fewest runs allowed (15), and fewest earned runs allowed (14), while standing second in the WAC in ERA, opposing batting average, fewest hits allowed per game (6.86), fewest runs allowed per game (3.21), and fewest earned runs allowed per game (3.00).
In his first season as a Hornet, Pimentel-Guerrero leads the team in hitting entering this week's conference tournament, batting .361 in 54 games with 34 runs scored, 14 doubles, three home runs, and 35 RBI. His 33 walks were tied with teammate Tyler White for the most on the team, posting a team-best .487 on-base percentage to go along with a .497 slugging percentage.
Pimentel-Guerrero ranks seventh in WAC in average and second in on-base percentage, while standing tied for seventh in walks and tied for 10th in hits (66).
Poturnak wrapped up his first regular season with the Hornets batting .315 (third on the team) over 55 games, scoring 36 runs to go with 13 doubles, a team-high 13 home runs, and 48 RBI. His .559 slugging percentage led the team and ranked No. 13 in the WAC, while standing ninth in the league in hits (70) and RBI, and tied for fifth in home runs. Poturnak's 124 total bases were the third-most in the conference.
As the top-seeded team in this week's WAC Tournament, Sacramento State has earned a double bye and will not play until Thursday (May 22) at 12:30 p.m. PT against an opponent to be determined. A complete tournament schedule, including links to follow along, are available online at wacsports.com.
