Hornet baseball has now completed the opening drive of its schedule and stands at 8-14 overall and 4-2 in WAC competition.

After opening the season with seven consecutive losses for the first time in coach John Smith’s tenure, Sacramento State has settled into a competitive club and currently sits atop the WAC standings.

From the 0-7 start of the season to Smith breaking the school wins record Sunday at New Mexico State, the season has been a statistical rollercoaster for the team.

Although Smith’s Hornets have never gotten off to a worse start to a season, their 4-2 start to the WAC schedule has been just as unexpected. In a preseason coaches poll Sac State was predicted to finish last place in the conference, but thus far the team has set the standard in the league.

“Every win in league is important, but getting off to a good start in league is huge, it gives us a leg up,” Smith said.

Smith said that he expects the Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State road trips will be two of the most grueling and fatiguing trips on their schedule. He added that it is beneficial to have gotten them out of the way early so that the second half of WAC play will be a downhill battle.

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming on the team has come from its pitching staff, specifically the bullpen. Prior to the start of the season, Smith said that he felt good about the depth of the pitching staff and hoped it would be one of the team’s strengths.

“We’re not pitching as well as we should, although we’re pitching much better. I had higher expectations on what we could do, pitching-wise,” Smith said.

Through 20 games, Hornet pitchers have a staff ERA of 6.94 and only starter Alvaro Orozco (4.58) and middle reliever Tyler Axelrod (4.76) have an ERA under six among pitchers who have made a minimum of four appearances.

Despite being a notable stain thus far, the pitching staff has also produced the team’s most influential addition. After an inconsistent start to his Sac State career, Orozco, a junior transfer, has emerged as the team’s ace.

The San Bruno Calif. native leads all regular pitchers in ERA, wins (3), strikeouts (22) and innings pitched (37.1). In his last three starts, Orozco has been solid, going 3-0 with a 3.0 ERA allowing just seven runs in 22.2 innings pitched.

Third baseman David Flores, who was the only returning Hornet to receive all-conference honors in 2006, has started the season in a slump. Currently batting .197, Flores was expected to be a large contributor in the middle of the lineup Smith said, but has not yet been able run on all cylinders.

The Hornets’ most successful hitter thus far has undoubtedly been sophomore first baseman Gabe Jacobo. Jacobo was the lone Hornet to be selected to the All-WAC preseason team, and he has not disappointed.

The sophomore has been on fire, leading the Hornets in all major offensive categories with a .386 batting average and five home runs with 19 RBIs. He also leads the team in at- bats, hits, doubles, slugging percentage, sacrifice flies and is second in runs scored.

Smith said that, like the pitching staff, the offense has not yet reached its full potential.

“Were finding ways to score runs, but were not doing it the old fashioned way by pounding the walls down,” Smith said. “When that happens, we’re going to be a scary team to deal with.”

Smith said that, although the Hornets are currently in first place, they have a lot of work ahead of them.

“It’s temporary respect,” Smith said. “We have to show that we can continually do it.”

The Hornets will try to hold on as the WAC leaders on March 30, when they go for their third straight road series victory at Fresno State.

The Hornets will take on San Francisco at 2 p.m. at Hornet Field Wednesday and face Stanford this weekend. The Cardinal will host Sac State at 1 p.m. Saturday before making a trip to Sacramento at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Mario Martin can be reached at [email protected]>/i>