MESA, Ariz. -- The final two teams standing the 2026 Western Athletic Conference Tournament will go head-to-head on Saturday as the fourth-seeded Sacramento State will take on top-seeded Tarleton State with the conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth on the line. The two clash at 3 p.m. PT, with a second game to follow (if necessary) at 7 p.m. PT at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. Both games will be streamed live on the ESPN+ platform.

PLAY BALL!
2026 WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
WHAT: #4 Sacramento State (29-31, 10-8 WAC) vs. #1 Tarleton State (36-19, 12-6 WAC)
WHEN: Saturday, May 23, 2025
TIME: 3 PM PT & 7 PM PT (game two if necessary)
WHERE: Mesa, Ariz.
STADIUM: Hohokam Stadium
WATCH:
Game 1: ESPN+ | WAC International (outside of the U.S.) | Live Stats
Game 2 (if necessary): ESPN+ | WAC International (outside of the U.S.) | Live Stats
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: WACSports.com

AGAINST TARLETON STATE
• Sacramento State and Tarleton State will meet for the fifth time (and possible a sixth) in 10 days, this time for a WAC Tournament title
• Sacramento State needs two wins over Tarleton State on Saturday to claim the title and NCAA Tournament berth
• The Texans handed the Hornets their first loss of the WAC Tournament on Thursday (May 21) with a 9-0 victory, limiting Sacramento State to just one hit and four baserunners
• Saturday's game one between the two marks the third meeting between the two schools in the WAC Tournament with Tarleton State winning the previous two (first meeting was a 12-6 Texans win in 2024)
• The Texans lead the all-time series 9-6

WAC TOURNAMENT FACTS
• Sacramento State is 33-26 all-time in the WAC Tournament, including a 32-20 record since 2012 under Head Coach Reggie Christiansen
• The Hornets have won three WAC Tournament titles: 2014, 2017 and 2019
• Sacramento State is making its first WAC Tournament championship appearance since 2019 when they defeated Grand Canyon twice to win the title
• That victory capped a 6-0 finish to the tournament that year for the Hornets, who lost their opening-round game to Utah Valley before going on their run, eliminating every tournament qualifier along the way
• The three wins in this year's tournament are the most since the 2019 event (6-1) and marked the first time that Sacramento State has multiple wins in a conference tournament since going 2-2 in 2022

HORNETS FACING ELIMINATION
• Sacramento State has fared pretty well in elimination games in the WAC tournament since 2006, posting a 22-9 record, including a 21-8 mark under Head Coach Reggie Christiansen
• Friday's wins over Utah Valley and California Baptist were the first for the Hornets since 2022
• Sacramento State has twice come out of the losers bracket to win a tournament title in 2014 (finished 4-0 after falling to Cal State Bakersfield in its first game) and 2019 (lost opener to Utah Valley, then knocked out every team in the tournament, going 6-0)

YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORD IN ELIMINATION GAMES
2008: 1-1
2012: 0-1
2014: 4-0 (lost opener, won title)
2015: 3-1
2016: 0-1
2018: 4-1
2019: 6-0 (lost opener, won title)
2021: 0-1
2022: 2-1
2024: 0-1
2025: 0-1
2026: 2-0

A WIN WOULD MEAN A LOT
• A win in game one on Saturday against Tarleton State would give the Hornets 30 wins in a season for the 13th time in the last 16 years — including 11 straight campaigns from 2012-23
• Entering 2026, Sacramento State's 12 30-win seasons since 2012 were tied for the most among Division I programs in the state of California along with UC Irvine
• That's ahead of perennial powers like UCLA, San Diego, Fresno State and Cal Poly (which had nine such years entering 2026) as well as UC Santa Barbara and Stanford (which had 10)

NEWS AND NOTES
• For the second time in this year's tournament, senior Ryan Ellis tied a school single-game record with three doubles in the 12-7 win over California Baptist, matching his performance in the tournament opener against Abilene Christian
• According to available records, Ellis is the ONLY Hornet to have three doubles in a game twice in a career, joining 14 other Sacramento State greats who have each done it once 
• The 12 runs in the win over CBU on Friday were the most in a single tournament game for the Hornets since a 12-7 win over Seattle U in 2018
• Ellis is hitting .533 (8-for-15) with six runs and seven RBI in this year's tournament with all eight of his hits going for extra bases — seven doubles and a home run
• He is slugging 1.200 for the tournament with a .556 on-base percentage in four games
• Jakob Poturnak's 10th home run of the year against CBU on Friday gave the Hornets a pair of double-digit home run hitters (Erick Dessens also has 10) for the second straight season
• The blast was also the 23rd of his Sacramento State career
• Jakob Poturnak's four RBI against CBU tied the school single-game WAC Tournament record — a record he already shared with his four RBI against Grand Canyon last season 
• Nearly half (17) of the team's 35 hits in the tournament have gone for extra bases — 13 doubles and four home runs
• The team's six doubles in the tournament opener against ACU were a school single-game WAC Tournament record, besting the five against Cal State Bakersfield in 2018
• Jace Jeremiah's home run against ACU in the tournament opener was the first by a Hornet in tournament play since JP Smith hit two against Tarleton State in 2024
• Sam Harry's 19 doubles are the most by a Hornet hitter in a single season since Steven Moretto (22) and Ryan Walstad (20) in 2021
• Eight of Ellis' 18 doubles on the year have come in the last five games
• Brett Ott has now reached base safely in each of his last 12 games
• With two more strikeouts on Saturday, this year's Hornet pitching staff would become only the third in school history to strikeout at least 500 batters along with the 2019 (537) and 2021 (532) pitching staffs
• Junior LHP Sean Carey, who picked up his second save against Utah Tech and nailed down the win against California Baptist on Friday, has not allowed a run in his last seven appearances (14.2 innings), scattering four hits, walking five, and striking out 27
• In the tournament, Carey has allowed only two hits over 5.2 innings, walking two and striking out nine in three appearances, holding opponents to a .111 average
• Freshman RHP Trevor Wilson has allowed just one unearned run on 12 hits over his last seven appearances (14.0 innings), walking four and striking out 11
• Sophomore RHP Carson Timothy picked up his third win in his last five appearances without a loss dating back to the Hornets' victory at No. 1 UCLA on April 26
• He has struck out 20 against seven walks in those five games (21 innings), including striking out a career-high six in the elimination game on Friday (May 22) against Utah Tech
• The 12 strikeouts in the team's tournament opener against ACU tied the school single-game WAC Tournament record set against New Mexico State in 2018, while the 10 against California Baptist on Friday were the third-highest single-game total

RECORD BOOK WATCH
• Following Friday's games, Dessens now ranks tied for seventh on the school's single-season list for at-bats (247), tied for sixth in hits (88), tied for sixth in RBI (64), and tied for 10th in multi-hit games (26)
• Sam Harry is tied for 10th on the single-season runs list (56) and tied for 10th in doubles (19)
• Cameron Sewell is tied for 10th in hit by pitches (14)