SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State rallied from down four to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh, but a solo home run with two outs in the ninth by Abliene Christian tied it and a two-run shot in the 10th proved to be the difference as the Wildcats edged the Hornets, 13-11, in the series finale between the two teams on Sunday afternoon at John Smith Field.
With the loss, Sacramento State fell to 22-27 overall and had its record in Western Athletic Conference play evened at 6-6. Abilene Christian improved to 23-24 overall and also moved to 6-6 in league play with two weeks remaining before the conference tournament.
Sam Harry and Jace Jeremiah each had three hits while Cameron Sewell and Brett Ott tacked on multi-hit games for the Hornets, who racked up 12 hits on the day. Sewell and Jakob Poturnak each homered and drove in three, while Erick Dessens and Ott added two RBI each.
It was a slugfest to start the mid-morning contest as the Hornets answered a two-run home run from the Wildcats in the top of the first with a pair of three-run blasts by Poturnak and Sewell in the home half to take a 6-2 lead. Sacramento State sent all nine batters to the plate in the frame, posting its second-highest scoring inning of the year and its highest-scoring first inning of the season.
Poturnak's home run was his ninth overall, scoring Harry and Ryan Ellis ahead of him for the 3-2 lead, while Sewell blasted his third of the season, plating Luis Pimentel-Guerrero and Jeremiah to double the run total.
The Wildcats answered with another home run — this time a three-run shot — in the second to make it a one-run game, then took the lead for the first time on the day with a three-run fifth and two more in the sixth for a 10-6 advantage.
After being held to just two hits after its big opening inning, Sacramento State's offense caught fire once again. The Hornets loaded the bases with one out on a single, walk, and hit batter, plating the first of three runs in the frame on a wild pitch. A walk to Ellis re-loaded the bases for Dessens, who laced two-run single to center, pulling the Hornets to within a run.
An inning later, back-to-back singles by Jeremiah and Sewell followed by a stolen base put two in scoring position for Brett Ott, who lined a single into centerfield to score both runs and regain the lead for Sacramento State, 11-10.
The Hornets retired the side in order in the eighth and got the first two outs of the ninth before Maddox Miesse took the first pitch he saw over the wall in center to tie the game.
In the 10th, the Wildcats took the lead for good as a lead-off walk set the take for Ryan Jones who, with one out, put the second pitch he saw over the wall in center for the eventual game-winner.
Ott singled to lead-off the home half of the 10th for Sacramento State, but a double play and a fly ball ended the contest.
Elijah Rogalski (1-2) suffered the loss as the Hornets used nine pitchers in the extra-innings contest. Reliever Sean Carey struck out a career-high six batters in 2.1 innings of relief of starter Carson Timothy, allowing just one hit, while Colin Hunter added four more strikeouts in three innings of relief, but was stuck with a no-decision after the game-tying home run — the only hit he allowed on the day.
Collin Adams (2-3) earned the win in relief for Abilene Christian, allowing two runs on three hits in three innings, giving way to Baron Mannis in the 10th, who gave up a hit in a scoreless inning pitched.
Sacramento State makes a return trip across the Causeway on Tuesday for its final midweek game of the season, facing UC Davis for a second time at 6 p.m. The Hornets defeated the Aggies, 7-1, in the first meeting between the long-time rivals on April 22.
From there, Sacramento State makes its final roadtrip in conference play, heading to Southern California to take on future Big West Conference rival California Baptist in a three-game set on May 8-10.
