STOCKTON, Calif. — Junior Erick Dessens finished with a pair of hits, including his second home run of the season, and drove in four runs to help power the Sacramento State offense, but host Pacific rallied back to walk-off an 8-7 victory on Wednesday night at Klein Family Field in Stockton, Calif.
The Hornets fell to 3-5 overall with the loss, while the Tigers evened their record at 4-4.
Dessens and the rest of the Sacramento State offense came out hot against the home side, tagging starter Liam Smith and Ethan Shaver for six runs over the first two innings to take a commanding 6-0 lead. The Hornet outfielder staked his team to a 2-0 lead just seven pitches into the game, launching a home run over the wall in right field, scoring Brett Ott ahead of him.
An inning later, a walk, a hit batter, and another walk loaded the bases and chased Smith from the game in favor of Shaver, who surrendered a one-out single through the right side by Dessens to plate two and make it 4-0 in favor of the visitors.
A wild pitch put two in scoring position and
Jakob Poturnak drew another free pass to load the bases. Freshman
Sam Harry made it a five-run game with another walk to force home Ott, and
Luis Pimentel-Guerrero followed with the team's third-straight walk for the 6-0 lead.
A pair of strikeouts ended the threat as the Tigers began to claw their way back. Pacific scored twice in the fourth on a two-run home run and added two more in the fifth on a two-run single to make it 6-4. An RBI double preceded another run-scoring base hit in the sixth that tied the game before the Hornets found a way to get ahead once again.
Cameron Sewell led-off the eighth with a walk and moved all the way to third on a pinch-hit double by
Jace Jeremiah.
Michael Perazzo followed with an RBI ground out to the right side to plate Sewell with the go-ahead run, but the advantage was short-lived.
A one-out double in the home half put a runner in scoring position and Pacific was able to cash it in with two outs on a single back up the middle to knot the game at seven apiece.
Sacramento State went quietly in the ninth, setting the stage for the Tigers' final comeback of the night as a lead-off walk came back to haunt the Hornets. A ground ball and a hit batter put two on for Rylan Evans, who bounced a ball through the right side, but the throw to the plate was too late as Peyton Richards slid home for the winning run.
Andrew Monson (0-2) suffered the loss in relief, allowing a run on a hit in two-thirds of an inning. Meanwhile, Carson Revey (2-0) earned the win in relief for the Tigers as the Pacific bullpen limited the Hornets to just two hits — and four baserunners total — over the final seven innings.
Sacramento State looks to bounce back with a three-game home-and-home series with California this weekend. Games one and three on Friday (Feb. 27) and Sunday (March 1) against the Golden Bears will be played in Berkeley, Calif., with game two scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday (Feb. 28) at
John Smith Field.
