With live sports currently on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, sports writers for The State Hornet will be going through the archives each week to highlight some of the best performances in Sac State Athletics history.

3 Sac State alumni drafted to minor league baseball teams

Three Sacramento State alumni moved from entry-level rookie ball teams to the minor leagues during the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. 

Pitcher Tyler Beardsley was picked in the 16th round by the Minnesota Twins, pitcher Sam Long was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays and catcher Gunner Pollman was drafted by the Miami Marlins. 

Long had previously played for the Princeton Rays in West Virginia and pitched 33 strikeouts with 9 earned runs over 26 innings despite a back injury the previous season. 

Beardsley was called up to play as starting pitcher for the Kernels in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Pollman was called up to play for the Greensboro Grasshoppers in North Carolina. Both the Kernels and the Grasshoppers are Low-A Teams and offered pay raises. 

All three Hornets remained close after their collegiate baseball careers and said they learned a lot over the years from the Sac State baseball program. 

RELATED: Sac State alumni turn baseball dreams into minor league careers

Senior goalkeeper puts Hornets ‘in the right position’ to succeed

Sac State soccer player James Del Curto was always positioned as forward growing up, but decided at twelve years old he wanted to be a goalkeeper. 

Just ten years later, at the age of 22, Del Curto was Sac State’s starting goalkeeper and earned Big West Conference second-team honors his junior year. 

Del Curto worked hard over the years to improve his strength, speed and fitness so he could lead his team through every game to the best of his abilities. He was also in charge of looking over the back-five.  

Del Curto became the fifth player in Sac State history to have recorded 200 saves in 2017. 

RELATED: Senior goalkeeper puts Hornets ‘in the right position’ to succeed

Hornets volleyball team goes 13-1 in September

The Sac State volleyball team had a nearly perfect month in September 2015 with a score of 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky Conference. 

The Hornets went into the fifth set for the first time in school history against Southern Utah University. They also held a hitting percentage of .247 which was the second highest in the Big Sky and were third in conference with a leading 837 kills.

Setter Kennedy Kurtz was ranked third in Big Sky with 706 assists, 106 of those assists being in two games. 

The 1995 Hornets volleyball team is the only other team in school history to have started a season this strong. 

RELATED: Hornets go 13-1 in September