For the second time in the last month, the 2015 Sacramento State baseball team is on a lengthy road trip featuring contests against Western Athletic Conference foes and nonconference opponents.

The last trip saw the Hornets (22-21, 9-9 WAC) win three out of the eight contests. That trip occurred from March 31 through April 12. The off days in the previous trip allowed the Hornets to return to Sacramento in between games over the 13-day time span.

This current road trip will see Sac State play nine games in 10 days and travel to four different states. The Hornets figure to be tested with series against the University of North Dakota and Chicago State, both WAC members, sandwiched around a doubleheader at the University of Iowa April 28 and a single game at Notre Dame April 29.

“Absolutely, it certainly has the potential to be,” said coach Reggie Christiansen when asked if this is a season-defining road trip. “We will be tested and we are headed towards the part of the schedule and time of the year when we hope to be playing our best baseball.”

Sac State opened the trip by dropping two out of three games to UND.

The Hornets took game one of the trip and game one of the series 5-1 versus UND on Friday, April 24 behind six strong innings from starting pitcher Brennan Leitao. The senior allowed one early run, later rebounding to give up just two total hits.

Some timely hits also helped lift the visitors to victory. Scotty Burcham led the team with three hits in game one and Devin Lehman and Brandon Hunley had two RBIs apiece.

“We set the tone in game one,” Leitao said. “We’re ready to get hot and that first game was a good way to start.”

UND rebounded to the tune of a 10-0 victory in eight innings for game two. The game was called after eight innings. Starting pitcher Justin Dillon had his roughest outing of the season in the contest. The sophomore gave up seven runs in the four innings he pitched. He saw his ERA rise from 2.47 to 3.51.

Sac State lost the series finale by a score of 2-1 on Sunday.

Similar to the last trip, the team plans to build camaraderie while being on the road. The Hornets will be tested in traveling to unfamiliar venues and playing unfamiliar opponents.

The morale of the team remains high as they embark on their season-high nine-game road trip. The Hornets dropped nine of 13 games heading into the road trip, but are confident that a positive road trip can turn momentum back their way.

“We are all staying positive because we know what we’re capable of,” Dillon said. “We have faith in one another that we can get things going … Our main goal on this trip is to get better every day so that we can go into the conference tournament rolling.”

Sac State’s road-heavy end to its schedule is the disadvantage of playing an early season home-heavy slate. The Hornets, fortunate to have the climate to allow February baseball in Sacramento, played their first three series and 10 of their first 12 games at home. Only nine of the Hornets’ final 30 games will be at John Smith Field.

In contrast, this weekend’s series was UND’s third home series of the season. Past Hornets’ opponents played the majority of their early contests on the road as well. Texas Tech University gave a good example of how February baseball can look in colder cities, as a scheduled four-game series with the Hornets was reduced to one single game Feb. 25 due to snow.

The Hornets currently have a 7-12 record on the road. They know that they have to improve in that regard if they are going to get back to an NCAA Division I Regional for the second consecutive year.

“I don’t think being on the road has affected our play,” Christiansen said. “Regardless of venue, we have to play good ball and we have not done that at times.”

After the completion of the road trip, Sac State has seven remaining contests, including six against WAC opposition. Three of the seven are on the road before the WAC tournament begins May 20 in Mesa, Arizona. The Hornets feel that these nine games will go a long way towards seeding for the conference tournament and the team’s confidence.

“We just have to stick together and keep grinding,” Leitao said. “We’re built to win ball games … Unfortunately, our record recently hasn’t showed that, but that’s behind us now, and we’re in a good place mentally.”