On March 29, the Sacramento State baseball team was 4-2 in WAC play and sitting atop the conference standings. After opening the season with seven consecutive losses, the team appeared to be turning the corner to becoming a competitive ballclub.

Since then, the team lost eight of their last nine league games and have plummeted to the WAC’s basement. In those nine games, the Hornets have been outscored 74-39 and Sac State pitchers have a staff ERA of 7.44.

“(Our pitchers) have been getting behind in the count, and, as a result, it puts (opposing hitters) in good hitting counts,” coach John Smith said.

Some of the pitching staff’s misfortune can be attributed to injury. Alvaro Orozco and Mick Joyce, the Hornets’ Friday and Saturday starters, have both suffered aggravated arm injuries in the last three weeks. The injuries have caused the Hornets’ top starters to each miss at least one scheduled start and be inconsistent in the games they have appeared in.

“If they’re healthy enough to pitch, I would hope they could pitch well enough to keep us in the game, but that hasn’t always been the case. It puts us back against a wall,” Smith said.

Despite the duo’s respective setbacks in the injury rehabilitation and lack of consistency, the two have both given valiant efforts to contribute, giving the Hornets some solid innings since their injuries.

The injury bug has also taken a toll on the Hornets’ offense. The team’s most productive hitter, first baseman Gabe Jacobo, was injured in the first week of April against the University of Hawaii.

Jacobo has been the heart of the Sac State offense thus far, leading the team in every major offensive category on the season. The injury has caused Smith to start Jacobo in the designated hitter spot instead of his familiar first base role.

However, the sophomore has not been himself since the injury, getting just one hit in 10 at-bats in last weekend’s series against Louisiana Tech.

“We probably shouldn’t be playing him right now because he’s not at full strength,” Smith said. “He can’t really turn on the ball.”

The club is not only ailing physically, but also mentally. Smith said that the morale on the team is low right now, but the team has not lost sight of its ultimate goal, which is to qualify for the conference tournament and make some noise once there. Smith said, however, that if the team does not start to pick it up in conference play, that goal maybe in jeopardy.

He added that the next three weekends will be telling on weather or not the team reaches the post season.

“We have San Jose (State) and New Mexico (State) coming up and they’re right there with us (in the standings), so the next couple of weeks we’re going to have to start doing a better job,” Smith said.

The team must come in sixth place in the seven-team league to qualify for the WAC Tournament which will take place May 24-27 in Reno.

If there has been a positive in the team’s recent collapse it has been the emergence of true freshman Tim Wheeler.

After a slow start to the season offensively, the El Camino High graduate has come of age, leading the team with a .389 batting average and .648 slugging percentage in WAC play. “He’s the bright spot,” Smith said. “He’s doing everything we predicted. We thought that by mid-season he’d be playing like a seasoned veteran, and he is. He’s not playing like a freshman anymore.”

In addition to his blossoming offense, Wheeler has developed a command of the center field position. He has appeared wise beyond his years in his patrolling of the outfield.

Smith said that when Wheeler arrived on the team, his defense was not particularly one of his strengths, but he has shown great improvement. The Hornets will travel to San Jose this weekend to face the Spartans in a crucial conference series. With a series victory, the Hornets will pass San Jose State, which is currently in fifth place, in the standings.

First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Municipal Stadium in San Jose. Game two of the series will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the finale will be played at 1 p.m. Sunday. Mario Martin can be reached at [email protected]