After rescheduling to avoid thunderstorms, Sacramento State baseball made its way to Davis to take on the Aggies to make up Tuesday’s rainout, and were able to prevail over UC Davis by a score of 4-2.

Following a tough-thrown four innings from Jake Stassi, Ty Nichols threw four scoreless innings, bringing his record to a perfect 2-0 and the Hornets’ season record to 18-13.

“Our pitchers did an unbelievable job of competing every pitch,” said pitcher Brennan Leitao. “[They] gave our team a chance.”

The Hornets got off to an early start behind a one-out triple from Scotty Burcham, which was followed by Nathan Lukes getting hit by a pitch. Chris Lewis singled to knock in the first run, and Brandon Hunley singled to knock in the second.

Down 2-0 in the first, UC Davis quickly answered with a run of its own after a pair of singles given up by Stassi was followed by a sacrifice fly to score Tanner Billy.

The Aggies drew blood again in the fourth inning with a double and a single, followed by another sacrifice fly. Stassi got out of the jam with runners on base but would not go any further, ending his day with four hits given up and two earned runs allowed.

After the fourth inning, UC Davis would not score again, with Nichols leading the pitching staff throwing four scoreless innings of long relief.

“He was extremely solid today,” said Burcham, speaking of Nichols’ performance. “He got ahead of hitters and that’s the key to being successful.”

Nichols’ four scoreless innings and two strikeouts gave the Hornets enough time to respond and gain back the lead.

Sac State scored the go-ahead run in the eighth off a throwing error by UC Davis shortstop Evan Heptig to score Lukes, and an insurance run was scored in the ninth driven in by a two-out single by Kyle Moses.

Five pitches were all that were needed to close out the Aggies in the ninth with Sutter McLoughlin displaying his strongest performance of the year to earn his team-leading fifth save.

Leitao had good things to say about McLoughlin’s outstanding ninth inning, explaining that “Sutter was simply Sutter.”

Overall, the pitching performances were what most have come to expect from the Hornets, who were able to hold the Aggies to just two runs scored.

“I think we looked great,” said starter Sam Long, regarding his fellow pitchers. “Stassi threw it well, Ty shut them down … it’s going to carry over into the weekend.”

The Hornets’ defense, which has had some hiccups of late, played error-less throughout the nine innings and even picked off a runner from second base.

“Just to have a mindset that every day is a new day,” said Burcham, referring to what helped the team’s defense play well. “Forget everything that has happened in the past.”

Sac State will look to lean on its pitching and defense, with its eight-game road trip continuing this Friday at Utah Valley University. The Hornets are currently tied for third place with the Wolverines.