SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento State baseball team sent its seniors out in style on Saturday afternoon, scoring all of its runs as part of an eight-run sixth inning to defeat Tarleton State, 8-4, and clinch the final regular season series of the year.
The Hornets improved to 26-30 overall and 10-8 in Western Athletic Conference play, tying for third place with Utah Tech in the final regular season league standings. The Trailblazers, however, will be the No. 3 seed in next week's conference tournament due to their head-to-head series win over the Hornets, dropping Sacramento State to the No. 4 seed and setting up an opening-round game against Abilene Christian on Wednesday (May 20) at 2 p.m. PT.
With the loss, the Texans fell to 34-19 overall and 12-6 in league play, but had already clinched the league's regular season title and the No. 1 tournament seed with their win over the Hornets on Friday. Tarleton State awaits the winner of the Sacramento State-Abilene Christian contest in the second round on Thursday (May 21) at 2 p.m. PT.
A complete tournament schedule can be found at
WACSports.com.
It was a pitcher's duel through the first five innings as the Texans were the first to break onto the scoreboard with a solo home run in the second for a 1-0 lead.
That advantage stood until the sixth when the Hornets bats awoke in a big way as Sacramento State sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning and scored eight times — its second-highest single-inning total this season.
Jace Jeremiah led off with a single, moved to second when
Luis Pimentel-Guerrero was hit by a pitch, and advanced to third on a one-out walk to
Nikhil Beasley that loaded the bases. Following a pitching change,
Jakob Poturnak quickly drew a four-pitch walk to drive home Jeremiah and tie the game.
After a strikeout for the second out of the inning,
Sam Harry laced a two-strike single back up the middle for the go-ahead runs and was followed on the very next pitch by
Ryan Ellis, who dropped a double under the glove of the diving Texan right fielder to plate two more.
Erick Dessens smashed a single into right for another RBI and, after Jeremiah's second hit of the inning, Pimentel-Guerrero snuck a triple down the right field line into the corner, scoring both runs for an 8-1 advantage.
Tarleton State added a two-run home run in the seventh and an RBI single in the eight to cut into the Sacramento State lead, but the Hornets closed out the game with a perfect ninth by
Trevor Wilson, who struck out a pair, to nail down the victory.
Gallery: (5-16-2026) 2026 Baseball Senior Day (May 16)
Sean Carey (3-2) earned the win in relief of starter
Carson Timothy, facing just one over the minimum in his three-inning stint, not allowing a run or a hit while striking out five. Timothy gave up just one run on three hits and struck out four in the start.
Reliever Carter Coffin (0-2) took the loss for Tarleton State, charged with three runs on a hit and a walk in just one-third of an inning.
With their hits on the day, Harry and Jeremiah extended their team-high hitting streaks to eight games each, while Ellis (nine games) and
Brett Ott (eight games) also extended lengthy reached base streaks.
2026 UNIVERSITY CREDIT UNION WAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 - FIRST ROUND
Game 1: No. 3 Utah Tech vs. No. 6 UT Arlington - 10 a.m. PT
Game 2: No. 4 Sacramento State vs. No. 5 Abilene Christian - 2 p.m. PST
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 - 6 p.m. PST
THURSDAY, MAY 21 - QUARTERFINALS
Game 4: No. 2 California Baptist vs. Winner Game 1 - 10 a.m. PT
Game 5: No. 1 Tarleton State vs. Winner Game 2 - 2 p.m. PT
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 - 6 p.m. PT
FRIDAY, MAY 22 - SEMIFINALS
Game 7: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5 - 10 a.m. PT
Game 8: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 5 - 2 p.m. PT
Game 9: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7 - 6 p.m. PT
SATURDAY, MAY 23 - CHAMPIONSHIP
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9 - 2 p.m. PT
Game 11: Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 10 - TBD PT (if necessary)
