The Sacramento State baseball team will rely heavily on returning players to improve its 10-14 record from last season in Western Athletic Conference play and an overall mark of 17-40.

Coach John Smith will start his thirtieth season as skipper for the green and gold when the Hornets host Loyola-Marymount at 2 p.m. on Feb. 22 for the first of a three-game series.

“It is always exciting to start with a fresh new slate,” Smith said. “That’s one thing that has been refreshing about this job year after year.”

Smith is a Sac State graduate and played two years on the baseball team before taking the job as head coach of the Hornets.

“(Sac State) has a special place in my heart to know that I have put so many years into this university,” Smith said. “I always felt that I could make things right here if I persevered, stayed with it, took the good with the bad and battled all the elements we have had to deal with. This is a great school.”

He said that all of the position players last season played well but the Hornets lacked a steady pitching staff, which would have enabled the team to have the success it deserved.

Smith said that the Hornets have seven returning position players this season to go along with a relatively young pitching staff. There are six underclassmen pitchers on the Hornets roster.

“To look forward to coming back this year with that much experience on the diamond is exciting,” Smith said. “I’m fired up more this year than any year I can remember in years past.”

Key returning Hornets include junior first baseman Gabe Jacobo, senior third baseman David Flores, senior outfielder Ryan Blair and sophomore outfielder Tim Wheeler.

Jacobo’s .363 batting average, 14 home runs and 44 RBI were team-highs last season. He also led the team in hits, runs scored, slugging percentage, doubles and at-bats.

“(Jacobo) has been in the program for three years, he came in as a freshman,” Smith said. “He’s really developed into a wicked force to deal with.

“I’ve never seen a guy as humble with the passion for the game like he has,” said Blair. “I’ve never seen a guy put his focus on one thing and be so driven and yet still have the moral values that you look for in a good human being.”

Flores was a first-team All-WAC selection in his sophomore season and was named to the preseason All-WAC Team this season.

“Flores had a great sophomore year,” Smith said. “(Last season) he had an average year by his standards, but compared to other guys it was an outstanding year. He got off to a slow start but really finished strong towards the end of the season?he is a physical specimen and is as dedicated to the game and to Hornet baseball as they come.”

Flores batted .311 with five home runs and notched 23 RBI as a junior last season.

“I guess you can say it was an OK year, but it wasn’t the year I was expecting to have,” Flores said. “I was disappointed, but most of all I was disappointed in the season we had as a team. What hurt the most was winning only 17 games. I thought I could have done more to help the team out. This year is a new year and hopefully things go the way we expect them to.”

Blair was a normal fixture in the Hornet line-up starting 52 games last season. He tallied three home runs, 26 RBI, and 65 hits to go along with his .316 batting average.

“Blair has made leaps and bounds in his confidence level,” Smith said. “He’s always had the talent but didn’t really believe in himself. Now he believes in himself and that talent has really blossomed like a rose opening up.”

Blair said that he has made an effort to put the team before himself.

“I reached out to the younger guys to lead by example and as I started doing that I realized I had more confidence in myself and the team because I saw our team’s true colors,” Blair said.

Smith said that the Hornet superstar of the future is Wheeler, who batted .352 against WAC opponents to go along with five home runs and 19 RBI during conference play last season. Wheeler joined Flores on the preseason All-WAC Team this season.

Smith said the Hornets will also rely on junior shortstop Blake Crosby, senior catcher Travis Kirkman, senior outfielders Brian Boyd and Jeff Hannah to play a vital role in the team’s success this season.

“All of these guys can flat out play, and given the chance with a pitching staff that is intact, (the team) has a chance to be successful,” Smith said. “We have great front line guys and we have really good depth behind them. We have some flexibility in dealing with injuries if they should occur.”

Smith said he doesn’t have to set goals for the team because the players have set their own goals for this season.

“Their goal is to win a WAC championship and anything less than that is going to be a disappointment,” Smith said. “I think that this team is capable of battling for it down to the wire.”

“This year’s team is more of a player-driven team than any year that I have been here in the past,” said Flores. “We got guys that lead by example?I think we’re on the same page and we don’t have any individuals on the team this year; our goal is to win a WAC championship.”

Smith said that a team with best regular season conference record that fails to win the conference tournament is not guaranteed an at-large bid to an NCAA regional tournament.

He said teams that fall short of having the best conference regular season record and winning the conference tournament have a slim chance of receiving a bid to a regional tournament.

“I think we have a team that can make a run at the WAC Conference Championship,” Smith said. “In order to do that we have to be one of the two teams playing on Sunday afternoon on the last day of the WAC tournament, and then you let your talent take over.”

The WAC Conference Tournament will be held May 22-25 in Ruston, La. after a 57-game regular season.

Andrew Eggers can be reached at [email protected]