BERKELEY, Calif. — Senior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero and Jace Jeremiah each finished with a pair of hits on the day and the Hornets' bullpen finished with four shutout innings of relief to keep things close on Sunday afternoon, but the Sacramento State baseball team's late rally came up a run short, falling to California by a 3-2 score at Stu Gordon Stadium.
The Hornets fell to 3-8 overall with the loss and will travel to long-time rival Fresno State on Tuesday (March 3) for a 6 p.m. first pitch before heading to defending National Champion LSU for a three-game series next weekend. The Golden Bears finished off a sweep in the first ever weekend series between the two schools, improving to 8-3 on the year.
Sunday's two hits for Pimentel-Guerrero gave him his fourth multi-hit game of the year, allowing him to reach base safely for the 11th consecutive game, while Jeremiah notched his third multi-hit contest while extending his hitting streak to four games.
Sacramento State was the first on the board for the second time in the three-game series, staking starter Carson Timothy (0-1) to a 1-0 lead on a Sam Harry single and a Jeremiah double to right.
A run in the fourth and two more in the fifth allowed the home team to take the lead for the first time, but the Hornets' weren't done, getting a run back in the eighth to inch closer. Orlando Cobarrubias drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a two-out infield hit by Pimentel-Guerrero, and scored on the next pitch when Jakob Poturnak laced a single to centerfield to make it 3-2.
Sacramento State then had the tying run on base twice in the ninth, but could not convert. Jeremiah singled up the middle to start the frame before California induced the Hornets into their fourth double play of the afternoon. Ryan Ellis drew a pinch-hit walk, but a strikeout by Cole Clark ended the game.
Seven runners were left on base for both teams, but the Golden Bears were able to escape the second, sixth, and seventh innings with rally-killing double plays in addition to the one in the ninth.
Timothy allowed two earned on four hits over the first four innings, walking one and striking out two before handing things over to the bullpen, which was stellar. Sean Carey allowed just one hit and struck out four over 2.2 innings, Ian Winterhalder gave up two hits but stranded runners at the corners, and Kurt Marton allowed a hit and struck out one in his lone inning of work.
Starter Eddy Gavin (2-0) allowed one run on three hits and struck out five around three walks over seven innings for the win, while Clark scattered three hits over 1.1 innings for his first save.
