SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior right-hander Ethan Lay tossed a complete-game two-hit shutout and the Sacramento State offense exploded with 10 runs on 14 hits en route to a 10-0 seven-inning victory over visiting Pacific on Wednesday night at John Smith Field.
Lay (1-1) picked up his first win of the season, allowing just four baserunners on the day and finishing with six strikeouts. He retired 16 straight Tiger hitters from the first through the sixth innings before Pacific was able to work its only walk of the game to lead-off the seventh. Only one Tiger baserunner advanced as far as third on the night as a double play to end the seventh preserved the shutout after Pacific had put a pair on with nobody out.
It was Lay's second-longest outing of the season, trailing only his 8.2 innings against Saint Joseph's in game two of that series on Feb. 20, while the senior needed only 69 pitches to dispatch of Pacific (6-10 overall).
Meanwhile, the Hornet offense gave him plenty of run support on the night, reaching double-digit runs for only the second time this season, while collecting its fourth game with 10-or-more hits.
Junior Jakob Poturnak led the way with a 3-for-4 night at the plate, falling a triple short of the cycle after slugging his second home run of the year in the second, rapping a double down the left field line in the fifth, and lining a single to center to lead-off the seventh. He also scored three times.
Freshman Sam Harry, junior Erick Dessens, senior Jace Jeremiah, and sophomore Orlando Cobarrubias also added a pair of hits on the night and combined for seven RBI. Luis Pimentel-Guerrero, Ryan Ellis, and Jamie Mullin also recorded base hits in the game.
Following Poturnak's solo blast in the second that staked the Hornets (6-11 overall) to the early lead, Sacramento State tacked on two more in the fourth when Cobarrubias' single to left was mishandled, allowing both Jeremiah and Ellis to score to make it 3-0.
A single by Jeremiah in the fifth plated Poturnak to extend the lead and the Hornets added another in the sixth on a single to center by Dessens for the five-run advantage.
Sacramento State then ended the night early as a bases-loaded ground ball off the bat of Cobarrubias couldn't be played cleanly, allowing a run to come home, and Jacob Cortez added a sac fly to make it a seven-run lead.
Harry kept things going by lacing a triple to the corner in right field, scoring a pair, and Dessens ended the game with a hit to right centerfield, bringing home the winning run.
Wednesday marked the first of four games against Pacific this week as the Hornets host the Tigers on Friday night (March 13) at 6 p.m., before making the trip down to Stockton, Calif., for games on Saturday (March 14) at 3 p.m. and Sunday (March 15) at 1 p.m. at Klein Family Field.
