SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Senior
Jace Jeremiah finished 2-for-2 with a run scored while senior
Luis Pimentel-Guerrero homered and drove in a pair as part of a two-hit night, but two big innings by Tarleton State powered the visiting Texans to a 15-4 win over the Hornets in seven innings on Friday night at
John Smith Field.
With the win, Tarleton State (34-18, 12-5 WAC) clinched the Western Athletic Conference regular season title outright and earned the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament in Mesa, Ariz. California Baptist will be the No. 2 seed and both will earn a first-round bye into the quarterfinals.
The three through six seeds are still to be determined. Sacramento State (25-30, 9-8 WAC) needs a win over the Texans in Saturday's series finale and an Abilene Christian win over Utah Tech to sew up the No. 3 seed. A win and a Utah Tech win gives the Hornets the No. 4 seed, while a loss on Saturday would drop them as far as the No. 5 seed.
First pitch for the regular season finale between Sacramento State and Tarleton State is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday (May 15), with the Hornets honoring their senior class as part of "Senior Day" festivities prior to the game at approximately 12:25 p.m.
After trading zeroes through the first two innings, the Texans exploded for six runs in the third and never looked back, adding a single run in the fourth, seven more in the fifth, and another tally in the sixth.
The Hornets finally got on the board in the fourth as Jeremiah led things off with a single and scored when Pimentel-Guerrero launched his fourth home run of the year over the batter's eye in right.
Sacramento State then clawed a pair of runs back in the home half of the fifth as
Sam Harry led-off with a single, moved to second when
Jamie Mullin was hit by a pitch, and advanced to third on one of two
Ryan Ellis walks that loaded the bases.
A passed ball with pinch-hitter
Michael Perazzo at the plate brought home the Hornets' third run of the night, while a second passed ball three batters later capped the scoring for the Hornets.
With hits on the night both Harry and Jeremiah extended their respective hitting streaks to seven consecutive games, while Ellis reached base safely for the eighth consecutive contest.
