ST. GEORGE, Utah — Freshman Sam Harry and senior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero each finished with three hits while Harry and Erick Dessens combined to drive in all six of the team's runs, but Sacramento State couldn't hold on to a late lead as host Utah Tech scored two in the eighth to complete the comeback and post a 7-6 victory in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Thursday night in St. George, Utah.
Thanks to his 2-for-5 night, Dessens posted his team-best 12th multi-hit game of the year while Harry, who ended 3-for-5 for his third three-hit game and extended his team-best hitting streak to nine consecutive games in the process.
Pimentel-Guerrero's 3-for-5 effort was his ninth multi-hit game and his fourth with at least three hits this year. Cameron Sewell added a pair of hits for his seventh multi-hit game of the season.
Sacramento State (11-19, 0-1 WAC) was the first team on the board with a four-spot in the second, loading the bases with no outs thanks to a Brett Ott single, a Sewell double, and the first of two walks on the night issued to Ryan Ellis. After a shallow fly ball for the first out, Harry took the second pitch he saw through the hole on the left side, scoring a pair for a 2-0 lead.
With two runners on, an error loaded the bases and chased the Trailblazer starting pitcher to face Dessens, who promptly dropped a single to right to plate a pair and make it 4-0.
Utah Tech (19-11, 1-0 WAC) worked away from any further damage, stranding two in scoring position before the offense got rolling in the third. The Trailblazers got back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before an error on a potential inning-ending double play ball allowed the first run to come home and make it 4-1.
An RBI single two batters later made it a two-run game before a bases-loaded two run single back up the middle two batters after that tied the game at four apiece.
The Hornets wasted little time getting two of those runs back in their half of the fourth as Pimentel-Guerrero singled to lead-off the inning and came around to score three pitches later when Dessens left the yard for his seventh home run of the season over the wall in left center to regain the lead for Sacramento State, 6-4.
Utah Tech led-off its half of the fourth with a home run to make it a one-run contest and it stayed that way until the eighth when three straight two-out hits tied the game then gave the Trailblazers the lead for good.
Down to their final ups, the Hornets were retired in order in the ninth on a pair of strikeouts and a ground ball to end the game.
Starter Ethan Lay went six innings, giving up just one earned run on eight hits, walking one and striking out five in the no-decision. Reliever Sean Carey (1-2) suffered the loss, allowing two runs on three hits and walking a pair in 1.2 innings before Andrew Monson needed one pitch to get out of the eighth.
Ryan Martinez (3-1) earned the win in relief, allowing just one hit over three innings before giving way to Ryan Kroepel in the ninth, who picked up his seventh save of the year.
The two teams return to the field on Friday (April 3) at 5 p.m. PT for game two of the series.
