Sac State baseball snaps 3-game losing streak, salvages series versus Seattle University
Hornets get shutout first three games, win 11-4 in Game 4 of the series
Sac State baseball player second year Ryan Tinsley pitches the ball during the game against Seattle University on Sunday, April 18, 2021. Sac State won the game by the score of 11-4.
April 18, 2021
Coming into the weekend Sacramento State (20-7) remained in Collegiate Baseball’s top 25 ranking as they looked to play Seattle University (10-16) in a four-game set at home at John Smith Field.
The Hornets went into the game coming off a series versus New Mexico State where Sac State took three of the four games in the series. The series landed Sac State second in the Western Athletic Conference behind California Baptist University.
This series, Sac State instead lost three of the four games as Seattle U kept Sac State scoreless for 24 innings.
The Hornets were without infielder Jorge Bojorquez, who missed the series due to surgery on his jaw after being hit by pitch in the series against New Mexico State earlier this month.
Friday: Hornets whacked 6-0, held to three hits
Despite team ace junior Scott Randall (5-1) going Friday evening for the Hornets, Sac State fell 6-0 to the Seattle University Redhawks.
Randall found himself in trouble early, allowing two runs in the first inning by giving up a two-run home run to Redhawk catcher Justin Mazzone to give Seattle a 2-0 lead.
From then on there was no scoring until the eighth, when Mazzone once again took Randall deep for another two-run blast as the ball soared just out of right fielder Aaron Zeidman’s reach, extending the lead to 4-0.
Seattle added two more in the ninth to make the score 6-0 as the Hornets fell flat in the series opener.
Redhawks starting pitcher Morgan White (1-1) left the ballgame due to injury while warming up in the second inning.The Redhawks turned to Nestor German (4-3), who went six innings in relief shutting down the Hornets. Brady Liddle (1-0) got the last six outs for the Redhawks to end the ballgame.
Friday marked the first loss of the year for Randall, who allowed a dozen hits while striking out just five, while still managing to go 7.1 innings in the defeat.
It was a quiet night for the Hornets’ offense, mustering just three hits, all singles, two of which were off the bat of Keith Torres.
Sac State’s lack of offense let the RedHawks cruise to a 6-0 victory as the Hornets gotget shutout for the second time all season.
Saturday, Game 1: Hornets can’t get Adams run support, lose 3-0 in extras
Despite the scoreless start for Hornets pitcher Travis Adams, Sac State got shut out again and fell to Seattle U, 3-0 in 8 innings.
The Hornets’ offense was held without an extra base hit in the ballgame, and unfortunately for Sac State, they weren’t able to score and get Adams a win. The game went to extra innings where the Hornets would end up losing 3-0.Jack Zalasky picked up his first loss of the year and moved his record to 3-1 on the season.
Torres. McPhillips. Walstad. The Hornets turn an EXCELLENT double play, keep this game scoreless at the John. #StingersUp pic.twitter.com/iY2esflVSe
— Sac State Baseball (@SacStBaseball) April 17, 2021
“It sucks we got the loss, but I felt good on the mound. Everything felt in sync for me, my pitches were working,” said Adams postgame following his seven-inning shutout performance. “Just on offense, we’re hitting at them balls and with the wind coming in, those balls in the air just stay up.”
The loss bumped the Hornets to 21-9 with a 13-6 record in Western Athletic Conference play.
The Hornets’ six hits, all of which were singles, were paired along with three double play ground balls.
Despite the multi-hit performances by catcher Dawsen Bacho and shortstop Keith Torres, Sac State was held scoreless.
Saturday Game 2: Scoreless streak reaches 24 innings, Hornets drop third straight 5-0
For the third straight game and only the fourth time this season, Sac State’s offense was held scoreless.
Seattle’s pitching staff entered play with the lowest ERA in the WAC and the ERA will continue to shrink as the Redhawks were able to keep Sac State’s offense off of the scoreboard once again.
Much like the first game, head coach Reggie Christiansen got a quality performance from his starting pitcher, this time Brady Rodriguez, who allowed just one run over five innings while also allowing just three Redhawk baserunners.
Once Christiansen went to the bullpen, the game quickly got out of reach.
Seattle jumped on junior reliever Travis Martizia for four runs over just two-thirds of an inning pitched, and with the Hornets struggling mightily at the plate, it was more than enough run support for Redhawk pitcher Peter Chronowski (2-2), who went the distance and picked up the complete game shutout for his second win of the season.
The Redhawks, who despite finding themselves below Sacramento State in the WAC standings, certainly hadn’t played like it versus Sac State thus far in the series.
“We went from being the No. 24 team in the country to a team that looks like they’re not so good right now, so hopefully things change tomorrow,” Christiansen said.
“Hopefully the last two days lights a fire underneath them a little bit, I really don’t know, I’m kind of at a loss for words,” Christiansen said.
Sunday: Hornets snap scoreless streak, avoid sweep, win 11-4
After three straight games of being shut out, something had to give for the Hornets offensively. The Hornets fell behind early in the game as Seattle scored three in the third to start the scoring, including one run because of an error and another when the Hornets fell for the bait on a fake steal by a Redhawks runner, which allowed Redhawks runner Connor O’Brien who was on third to score before the Hornets recorded the out.
In the bottom of the inning, things opened up for the Hornets as for the first time in the series, the Hornets scored a run. Then they scored a couple more. Steven Moretto doubled home a run, and then the Hornets picked up a run on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly out to tie the game.
Then in the fourth inning, Sac State and Seattle traded sacrifice flies to bring it to a 4-4 ballgame.
The offense finally awoke from the weekend slump, scoring the final seven runs before Zalasky came in and closed out the ballgame, getting the final six outs.
“We came into today knowing we need to focus on today and not worry about yesterday, and once we scored that one run, that elephant got off our backs,” Bacho said postgame.
Goodbye, baseball! Chris Gonzalez’s first of the year puts the Hornets ahead in the fifth. #StingersUp
B5 | SAC 5, SU 4 pic.twitter.com/LY7sn1nKCe
— Sac State Baseball (@SacStBaseball) April 18, 2021
“An older, experienced team, I don’t think these guys were going to allow this to go on much longer, so it’s good to see them come out and give our pitching a chance,” Christiansen said.
“It’s contagious, it was contagious in the wrong way yesterday,” Christiansen said.
Next, the Hornets will travel to Greeley, Colorado to face Northern Colorado University. The four-game series will start Friday with first pitch at 1 p.m. available to stream here.
