Despite finishing the Western Athletic Conference schedule four games under .500; Sacramento State baseball has secured a spot in the 2007 conference tournament. The Hornets completed a three game sweep of New Mexico State on May 5 to clinch their second consecutive post-season birth as a WAC affiliate.

It is still unclear who the Hornets will face in the first round of the six team double-elimination tournament that will take place May 24-27 at Pecolle Park in Reno. Because Sac State (17-35 overall) started conference play as early as two weeks before some of their conference foes, the final standings will not be evident until May 21.

Sac State could potentially play any of the top three teams (Fresno State, Nevada, Louisiana Tech) to open the tournament. However, if the season were to end today, Sac State, who sits in sixth place in the conference, would match up against first place Fresno State.

The Hornets last faced the Bulldogs (16-5, 31-25) in late March. Fresno State dominated the Hornets in a lopsided three game sweep in which Sac State was outscored, 29-10. Despite the team’s poor performance in their previous trip to Fresno, coach John Smith said that he wouldn’t mind facing them to open the tournament.

“All of our guys want another crack at them and having them on a neutral field even makes it a little bit more of a fair adventure,” Smith said.

Smith said that all three of potential first round match-ups are solid teams with good pitching. As a result, the team they face in the first round is not as important as how the Hornets’ starting pitching performs.

“If Joyce throws a good ball game, we match up well with any of those three teams and anything could happen,” Smith said.

Smith said that Joyce, who he moved up to the Friday starter roll in last weekend series against Northern Colorado, is going to be the man that the team will depend on to provide a strong showing in the opening game.

As important as Joyce’s performance will be to the team’s chances at making a legitimate run at the conference title, Smith said that the starting pitching as a unit will make or break the Hornets in the tournament.

“Were going to need to get good starting pitching through the first three games,” Smith said. “All three guys that we throw are going to have to get into the seventh inning, so that we can properly maneuver our bullpen.”

Sac State closed out their WAC schedule with three consecutive wins but Smith said that they may have taken a step back last weekend, losing 2-of-3 games to Northern Colorado. However, Smith said that playing in the high altitude of the Denver area may give the team an advantage when the go to Reno on May 23.

The Hornets will take advantage of three games this week to make final adjustments for the finale.

“The good thing is that were not going to sit around for ten days. We get to play (UC Davis) on Wednesday and Santa Clara on the weekend,” Smith said. “That’s an opportunity for us to try top fine tune some things and make sure we are where we need to be going into the tournament.”

The Hornets will leave for the 130 mile bus trip to Reno on May 23. Besides host University of Nevada, Sac State will have to travel the least distance to reach the showdown in western Nevada. However, Smith said that he does not believe the team’s close vicinity will give them any advantage at all. Mario Martin can be reached at [email protected]