SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The No. 8-seeded Sacramento State baseball team opens postseason play on Tuesday (May 21) at 4 p.m., taking on No. 5-seeded Tarleton State in the opening round at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz. The first round is single-elimination with the loser heading home and the winner advancing to take on No. 4-seeded California Baptist. From that point on, the tournament is double-elimination, culminating in Saturday's championship (May 25).
PLAY BALL!
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
WHAT: #8 Sacramento State (26-30, 13-14 WAC) vs. #5 Tarleton State (27-28, 17-13 WAC)
WHEN: Tuesday, May 21, 2024
TIME: 4 PM
WHERE: Mesa, Ariz.
STADIUM: Hohokam Stadium
WATCH: ESPN+ | WAC International (outside of the U.S.)
LIVE STATS: WACSports.com
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: WACSports.com
TICKETS: WACSports.com
GAME NOTES: Sacramento State | Tarleton State | Western Athletic Conference
HORNET WAC TOURNAMENT QUICK NOTES
• The Sacramento State baseball team returns to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament after missing out on the field in 2023
• The Hornets are making their 14th appearance in the league tournament and the 11th under the direction of Head Coach Reggie Christiansen, who is in his 14th season at the helm of the program
• Sacramento State's 14 appearances in the tournament are the most of any active league member, outpacing Seattle U (eight)
• The Hornets are a combined 28-22 in tournament play after rejoining the WAC in 2006, while the 28 wins are the most among active members (Utah Valley, 12)
• In its last appearance, Sacramento State finished 2-2 at the 2022 WAC Tournament, bouncing back from a 2-1 loss to UTRGV in the first game to post wins over Sam Houston State (3-2) and UTRGV (9-5)... The Hornets eventually fell to New Mexico State, 7-3
• Sacramento State has won the WAC Tournament three times, hoisting the trophy in 2014, 2017, and 2019
• The Hornets lost their first game in 2014 before rallying to win four straight en route to the 2014 crown and advance to the NCAA Regional in San Luis Obispo, Calif., hosted by Cal Poly
• Sacramento State followed a similar path in 2019, falling to Utah Valley before winning six straight elimination games to claim the title and advance to the NCAA Stanford Regional
• In 2017, the Hornets went a perfect 4-0 with wins over Seattle U, Northern Colorado, and Cal State Bakersfield (twice), en route to the title, scoring double digits in three of the four wins.
• The program's absence last season ended a streak of 10 consecutive appearances in the league's postseason event -- which was the longest active streak at the time
• The Hornets have won at least one game in each of its last 11 trips to the conference tournament, having not gone winless since 2007 when they were 0-2 in Reno, Nev.
EXPERIENCE WANTED
• Only five Hornets on this year's roster have had experience playing in the WAC Tournament: Evan Gibbons (2019 - 1 start as a pitcher, five appearances at first base), Gunner Gouldsmith (2022), Jorge Bojorquez (2022), Max Pettey (2021-22), and Noah Lucchesi (2022)
• Only 12 Hornets have played in the WAC Tournament all four years of their careers since 2006
AGAINST THE FIELD
• Sacramento State finished the year with four series wins, taking 2-of-3 from Utah Valley (home), UT Arlington (road), and Stephen F. Austin (home), while sweeping Seattle U (road)
• The Hornets lost 2-of-3 to Utah Tech (road), Abilene Christian (home), Grand Canyon (road), California Baptist (home), and UTRGV (road), while being swept by Tarleton State (home)
ABOUT THE TEXANS
• Tarleton State enters the tournament with a 27-28 overall record and a 17-13 mark in WAC play, setting records for the most overall wins and the best conference mark in the program's Division I era
• The Texans finished the regular season with a 2-9 record in their final 11 games, dropping league series to both Utah Valley and UT Arlington over the final two weekends
• Senior utility Cris Enriquez leads a quartet of Texans batting better than .300 on the year, hitting a team-high .325 with seven home runs and 52 RBI
• Sophomore outfielder Tyson Drake leads the team with eight home runs and 52 runs scored
• Right-hander Piercen McElyea is one of two hurlers who have started 14 games this year, posting a 3-1 record and a 5.22 ERA, striking out 48 over 50 innings and holding opponents to a .258 average
• Left-hander Matt Haley is the other, posting a 2-9 record with a 6.93 ERA, striking out 44 in 62.1 innings while opponents are batting .321 against him
SERIES NOTES
• Tuesday marks the first-ever meeting between Sacramento State and Tarleton State in the WAC Tournament as the Texans are only in their fourth season as a member of the conference
• There have been only two regular season series between the two schools with the Hornets taking 3-of-4 on the road in 2021, outscoring Tarleton State by a 59-21 count
• This year, the Texans swept the series in Sacramento by a 17-11 count -- including a series opener that lasted 14 innings and four hours and 12 minutes excluding a 45-minute rain delay on April 26
HORNET TRIO EARNS ALL-WAC HONORS
• Senior Gunner Gouldsmith, sophomore JP Smith, and junior Tyler White all picked up awards as the league office announced its postseason honor roll as voted on by the conference's head coaches
• Gouldsmith and Smith were each named to the All-WAC second team
• White and Gouldsmith also picked up WAC All-Defensive second team honors
• Smith earned his second career All-WAC honor after being named to the first team in 2023, while Gouldsmith earned his first career award
• This is the first season that an all-defensive team has been named
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
• Sacramento State has gotten its weekends off to a good start as of late, winning the opening game of its weekend series in five of their last six attempts
• The Hornets are a solid 10-4 on Friday nights (including this past week's opener against UTRGV which was played on a Thursday)
• Sacramento State has also been solid in series finales, finishing 8-6 after winning two of its last three
• Game two has been the Hornets' bugaboo, however, posting just a 3-11 record
• Sacramento State is hitting a season-high .288 and outscoring opponents 95-44 in the first game of the weekend, while the pitching staff has posted a 2.74 ERA and a .194 average against
CROOKED NUMBERS
• A four-run seventh inning in the opener at UTRGV over the weekend marked the 22nd time over 18 games this season that the Hornets have scored four-or-more runs in a single inning
• Sacramento State improved to 15-3 in those games including 11 straight victories in such contests after 12-10 loss in the second game of the year against Loyola Marymount
EARLY BIRDS GET THE WINS
• The Hornets are 4-0 in games ended early due to the run rule this season: 11-1 in seven against California Baptist (April 7), 14-2 in eight at Seattle U (April 12), 13-2 in seven at UT Arlington (May 3), and 12-1 in seven against Stephen F. Austin (May 10)
• However, the Hornets are 0-2 in extra-inning games this year, falling to LMU in 11 innings on Feb. 16 and a 14-inning, 4-3, heartbreaker against Tarleton State on April 26
HOMER HAPPY HORNETS
• Thanks to Ryan Christiansen's two-home run effort in the opener at UTRGV, the Hornets extended their streak of games with a home run to six before having it snapped on Friday in game two of the series
• That run is tied for the second-longest of the year with the six straight games from April 12-20 and behind a 10-game streak from March 3-19
• Sacramento State has 14 multi-home run games this season as a team, while three individuals have logged multi-home run games this year: JP Smith (six), Christiansen (two), and Cesar Valero (one)
• With 54 home runs on the year, Sacramento State ranks tied for fourth in the WAC entering the week
JUST A WALK IN THE PARK KAZANSKY
• Led by 29 walks apiece by JP Smith and Jorge Bojorquez, the Hornets have six hitters with 20-or-more walks on the year
• That total is the most for a Sacramento State lineup since the 2019 squad had eight players with at least that many, including 50 by Keith Torres, who holds the school career mark with 140
BETCHA CAN'T HIT JUST ONE
• Senior Gunner Gouldsmith enters the WAC Tournament having collected multiple hits in six of his last 10 games, including a 5-for-5 effort in the second game of the series against Stephen F. Austin
• Gouldsmith is riding a 10-game hitting streak -- his second double-digit run of the year behind his 18-game hit streak from Feb. 27 to March 26
• During his current hitting streak, Gouldsmith is batting .476 (20-for-42) with seven runs scored, and 12 RBI, as well as five extra base hits and six walks
GOOD AS GOLD? NO, "GOULD" IS GOOD
• Gouldsmith has hit safely in 22 of his last 24 games, batting .350 (36-for-103) with 16 runs, 16 walks, and 22 RBI to go along with seven doubles and three home runs
• Gouldsmith has gone without a hit in a game only eight times with a team-high 20 multi-hit contests
• His 78 hits this season rank third in the WAC entering the week -- just six off the lead -- and are more than double his personal single-season career high (previously 38 in 2023)
• His 18-game hitting streak from Feb. 27 - March 26 is tied for the seventh-longest recorded streak in school history along with Derek Brown (1994) and Blake Crosby (2009)
EXTRA, EXTRA!
• Sacramento State has collected an extra base hit in all but six games this season
• The team's 157 combined extra-base hits are fifth in the WAC behind Utah Valley (217), California Baptist (216), Grand Canyon (197), and Utah Tech (158) • The Hornets rank ninth in doubles (93), tied for fourth in home runs (54) and third with 10 triples
CRUSHING IT
• Smith inched closer to history in game two against Stephen F. Austin on May 11, slugging his 20th home run of the season and the 34th of his career
• Those totals rank second on both the school's single-season and career lists
• Smith becomes only the second Hornet to hit 20-or-more home runs in a season, joining Harvey Hargrove and his record 26 home runs in 1997
• Meanwhile, his 34 career blasts are one shy of Hargrove (1995-97) and Martin Vincelli-Simard (2019-23) for the most in school history
• Should Smith end the year atop the WAC leaderboard for home runs (he is currently second, just four off the lead of California Baptist's Mitch Simon), he would become only the third Hornet to lead the league, joining a pair of Major Leaguers: Rhys Hoskins (12 in 2014) and James Outman (11 in 2018)
SMITH SLUGGING
• Sophomore JP Smith had his nine-game hitting streak snapped in the regular season finale, but is still threatening at the plate, batting .325 (13-for-40) over his last 10 games
• The streak includes nine runs scored and eight RBI, three doubles, four home runs, and eight walks
MOVIN' ON UP
• After setting the school record for runs scored during the team's trip to Southern California -- now up to 158 -- Bojorquez has his sights set on moving up a couple more lists
• Bojorquez now has 108 free passes to his name, standing second on the all-time walks list behind former teammate Keith Torres (140 from 2018-22)
• He is one of only four Hornets to reach 100 walks in his career, when you add Will Fitzpatrick (103 from 1990-93) and Kenny Smallcomb (105 from 1981-82)
• Bojorquez's 225 career hits now have him eighth on the all-time list, trailing David Flores (226 from 2005-08) for seventh and Andrew Ayers (228 from 2010-13) for sixth place
• He is also tied for eighth in career hit by pitches (29), tied for seventh in games started (206), and sixth in career at-bats (788)
CUBBY CAUGHT 'EM
• Sophomore catcher Jacob Cortez threw out a pair of runners in game two of the series against Stephen F. Austin, giving him 11 on the season
• The 11 would-be base stealers cut down by Cortez rank tied for seventh among WAC catchers
• His total this year is also the highest since Dawsen Bacho threw out 11 during the 2021 campaign
• A 12th this season for Cortez would be the highest total for a Hornet catcher since Gunner Pollman erased 29 would-be base stealers in 2016
MATT STANDS ALONE
• After being hit by a pitch 26 times in his debut season with the Hornets, junior Matt Masciangelo is the program's single-season record holder
• Entering the postseason tournament, Masciangelo stands just two HBPs shy of breaking into the school's all-time top 10, closing in on current teammate Jorge Bojorquez, who stands tied for eighth with 29
• His 26 HBPs rank tied for third in the nation behind JT Landwehr of Mount St. Mary's (37)
• Masciangelo enters the week leading the WAC, standing seven ahead of Utah Valley's Luke Iverson and Burke Camper
• Masciangelo had quite a debut in the green and gold, hit by a pitch in eight of his first nine plate appearances during the Hornets' opening weekend
• He was hit three times in the opener against LMU, four more times in game two, and was plunked in his first appearance in the finale
• His four HBP's in game two set a program Division I single-game record
• The performance gained national attention with the video of his first seven HBPs garnering close to 10 million views on social media
QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON
• Prior to his predetermined three-inning start in the series opener at UTRGV on Thursday in preparation for this week's tournament, senior right-hander Evan Gibbons had thrown seven straight "quality starts," allowing two runs or fewer in each of those outings
• In 14 starts this year for Gibbons, eight of those have been "quality," which are the most in a single season by a Hornet hurler since Eli Saul had eight during the 2022 campaign
• He has gone at least five innings nine times this season, including a career-high eight innings against California Baptist on April 5
GIBB AND TAKE
• In his last eight starts, Gibbons has posted a 1.75 ERA while holding opponents to a .154 (26-for-169) average over 51.1 innings of work, allowing just 10 earned and striking out 30 against 10 walks
• Gibbons is also 6-1 in that stretch, while lowering his ERA by more than three runs to 3.52 on the year
HORNETS' 1-2 PUNCH
• Gibbons (3.52 ERA) and junior right-hander Tyler Stewart (3.75 ERA) have proven to be quite a duo this season, both standing among the top 15 in the league in ERA and second and fourth in that category among WAC pitchers with 10-or-more starts
• Should the duo end the year with sub-four ERAs, they would be the first Hornet pair to accomplish that feat (with a minimum of 10 starts) since Parker Brahms (2.41 ERA), Austin Root (2.93 ERA), and Scott Randall (3.48 ERA) in 2018
YOU COMPLETE ME
• Gibbons' current run includes back-to-back seven-inning complete games against UT Arlington (5/3) and Stephen F. Austin (5/10), making him the first Hornet to go back-to-back since 2021
• Prior to Gibbons' performances, the last Sacramento State pitchers to throw multiple complete games in a single season were Scott Randall and Travis Adams in 2021
• Randall was also the last to do so in back-to-back starts against Tarleton State on March 12, 2021, and Utah Valley on March 19, 2021
• Over his last three starts, the Elk Grove, Calif., native has allowed only two earned runs on five hits, striking out 10 and working around five walks, while the offense has backed his efforts by outscoring the opposition, 32-5
• In those three starts, Gibbons has held opposing hitters to an .093 (5-for-54) average
• He ranks tied for 11th in the nation with two complete games and is one of 44 pitchers with multiple complete games this year
"MAX"-ED OUT
• When senior left-hander Max Pettey entered game two of the series against Stephen F. Austin, the Rocklin, Calif., native also entered his name into the Hornet record books
• The appearance was the 74th of his career, moving him past Austin Root (2015-18) and into 10th on the school's all-time list
• Now with 75 career appearances after entering in game one at UTRGV, Pettey has been stingy as of late, posting a 2.25 ERA over his last 12 innings while scattering six hits and striking out 11 against only one walk
• Having walked only three all season, Pettey has also limited opponents to a .176 (6-for-34) average in that same span
SAVING FACE
• Freshman Kade Brown picked up his eighth save of the season in a thrilling finish to the finale against Stephen F. Austin, allowing a hit, walking two, and striking out five over two innings
• Brown's eight saves lead the WAC and rank No. 25 in the NCAA
• They are also the most by a Hornet freshman since Sutter McLoughlin set the school single-season record with 17 in 2013
• With the save against SFA, Brown moved into a tie for 10th on the school's single-season chart along with Trevor Rodgers (1990), Mitch Lively (2007), and R.J. Davis (2012)
• A ninth save this year would also place him in a tie for 10th on the school's career list
WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
• Brown enters the weekend leading the WAC with a .178 average against in addition to his league-high save total
• He is tied for 13th in the WAC in appearances (21) while his 54 strikeouts are among the top 15 in the league
• Brown has allowed only 24 hits in 37.1 innings of work, good for the third-fewest in the WAC, while his 5.79 hits allowed per game are second in the league
• His 13.02 strikeouts per game are good for third in the league
FACING "STAFF" COMPETITION
• No other pitching staff in the WAC has thrown more innings that the Hornets (492.2), who enter the week ranked among the top three in the league in nine different categories: leading the conference in fewest hits allowed per game (9.15), second in opposing batting average (.264), fewest walks allowed (178), fewest walks per game (3.25), and fewest runs per game (5.57), while standing third in ERA (5.01), strikeouts (456), fewest hits allowed (501), and fewest runs allowed (305)
STRIKE THAT
• The Hornets' pitching staff enters the weekend ranked third in the WAC in total strikeouts (456) and fourth in strikeouts per game (8.33)
• Sacramento State's staff ranks No. 21 in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.56), No. 24 in WHIP (1.38), and No. 11 in fewest walks per nine (3.25)
• The 456 strikeouts by the staff this year rank tied for fourth on the school's single season list -- only eight back last year's total (464) for third -- while the 8.33 strikeouts per nine innings would stand fourth on the single-season chart
