MESA, Ariz. — Senior
Ryan Ellis tied a school single-game record with three doubles and senior
Jace Jeremiah added a double, a home run, and three RBI on the day, helping power the No. 4-seeded Sacramento State offense to a 9-4 victory over No. 5 Abilene Christian in both team's Western Athletic Conference Tournament opener on Wednesday afternoon at Hohokam Stadium.
The Hornets improved to 27-30 overall and advances to face top-seeded regular season champion Tarleton State on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT. Sacramento State, which avenged a loss to the Wildcats that ended its tournament run in 2025, meets the Texans in a quick rematch of last week's regular season finales at
John Smith Field in which the Hornets took two-of-three.
ACU fell to 25-30 and is facing No. 6-seeded UT Arlington in an elimination game as of press time.
Ellis became the 15th Hornet to collect three doubles in a game and the first to do so since
Matt Masciangelo accomplished the feat at Grand Canyon on March 28, 2024. All told, seven of Sacramento State's 12 hits on the day went for extra bases after
Sam Harry doubled twice and Jeremiah wrapped up his big day at the plate.
With three hits, Ellis was one of four Hornets to finish the day with multiple hits as seven of the nine batters in the lineup collected at least one.
Starter
Ethan Lay (5-3) collected his ninth "quality start" of the season en route to the win, allowing two runs on seven hits over six innings, walking two and striking out seven.
Sean Carey struck out five over 2.0 innings of relief and
Trevor Wilson picked up his sixth save of the year in just three pitches, inducing a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.
A two-run single in the top of the first staked the Wildcats to an early lead, but that would be it for Abilene Christian for a while as Sacramento State rattled off nine unanswered runs until the ninth when the Wildcats plated an inconsequential pair.
Three doubles in the team's first four at-bats were enough to tie the game as Harry doubled down the right field line and scored on Ellis' first two-bagger of the day to get the Hornets on the scoreboard. After a strikeout, Jeremiah bounced a ground-rule double over the fence in right centerfield, plating Ellis to make it a 2-2 game.
A walk and Ellis' second double set the table for
Erick Dessens in the third as the junior laced a single back up the middle to score both and give Sacramento State the lead for good. Jeremiah then added the cherry on top of a four-run inning, taking the first pitch he saw from ACU starter Brett Lanman (1-6) over the wall in left for a 6-2 lead and the Hornets never looked back.
Three more runs came across in the eighth to put the game out of reach as Harry doubled and scored on Ellis' record-tying double and a pair scored later in the inning on bases-loaded walks to
Jakob Poturnak and
Cameron Sewell for the 9-2 advantage.
A solo home run and a bases-loaded hit batter gave Abilene Christian a pair of runs in the ninth and the Wildcats had the tying run on deck before Wilson stepped in, inducing the game-ending twin killing to secure the victory.
Harry and Jeremiah extended their respective hitting streaks to nine consecutive games following their performances on Wednesday, while Ellis (10 games) and
Brett Ott (nine games) added one more to their respective runs of reaching base safely.
