Hornets’ four game winning streak snapped

Jerod Moreno

Sacramento State baseball’s four-game winning streak was snapped as the University of Pacific took over late in the game to win 6-3 Tuesday evening.

Sac State (22-14, 10-2 in the Western Athletic Conference) starting pitcher Tanner Olson pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts and no walks. Jonny Palsha relieved Olson and completed a full inning while earning a loss, his first decision of the year. Palsha gave up three runs on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk.

Sac State posted its first run within the first three batters of the game. Chris Lewis led the game off with a two-strike double to left field. Bronson Grubbs advanced Lewis to third base on a single to right field, and Matt Smith cashed in with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Sac State built on its lead with two more runs in the second inning. Brandon Hunley reached on an error by Pacific third baseman JJ Wagner. This set the table for Dan Deely, as he belted an RBI double to left field to score Hunley. Trent Goodrich followed with an RBI single to center field to score Deely on the very next pitch.

Pacific (16-18, 7-8 in the West Coast Conference) answered the Hornets’ two runs with a run of its own in the bottom of the second inning. Nate Verlin began the sequence with an infield single to shortstop. Lucas Halstead did the damage with a double to right field which scored Verlin from first base, to cut the lead to two.

Pacific had two one-run innings in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game up at three.

In the fifth, Pacific’s Louis Mejia reached on a throwing error. Jimmy Boras singled up the middle to put runners on first and third base. Boras attempted to steal second base but was caught stealing by Sac State’s Gunner Pollman. During the throw down to second base, Mejia broke for home and scored safely.

In the sixth, Danny Mayer and Gio Brusa hit back-to-back singles, which put runners on first and third with nobody out. Verlin hit an RBI fielder’s choice that allowed Mayer to cross home plate and tie the game at three.

Pacific broke the tie in a big way in the seventh inning as they doubled their score with three more runs. Boras led the inning off with a single up the middle. Mayer followed after an out with a double to center field, putting runners on second and third base.

Brusa was intentionally walked to create the force-out at home. Chad Perry entered the game for Palsha and was able to get Wagner to fly out to shortstop for the second out of the inning. However, Verlin hit a first-pitch single through the left side of the infield to advance each runner and bring home the go-ahead run. Halstead followed with a single of his own through the left side of the infield, but two runs scored to make the score 6-3 in favor of Pacific.

Sacramento State was held to seven hits, with Deely being the only Hornet to record two. Deely went two-for-three with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Lewis went one-for-three with a double and a run scored. Goodrich went one-for-three with an RBI. Smith had an RBI and Grubbs, Kody Reynolds and Blake Edmonson each added a hit for the Hornets.

The Hornets will return to action as they face-off against Western Athletic Conference opponent UT Rio Grande Valley for a three-game series on the road in Edinburg, Texas. Game one will start at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Sacramento State is currently tied for first place within the WAC standings, with a conference record of 10-2, and UT Rio Grande Valley is in fourth place with a conference record of 6-3.