Sacramento State baseball hosted the University of Saint Thomas at John Smith Field Saturday, February 25.

The Hornets went 2-0 versus the Tommies to start their season 5-1. 

The two teams were initially slated to play four games, however, rain caused Friday and Sunday’s contests to be canceled. Saturday’s doubleheader were the only games to be played.

Saturday game one: Hornets grind out 2-0 victory over Tommies to open series

Sac State opened their series versus the University of Saint Thomas with a 2-0 victory at John Smith Field on Saturday. 

Junior right handed pitcher Kevin Haynes was initially scheduled to pitch game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, but Friday’s rainout meant junior right-handed pitcher Noah Takacs start was moved to Saturday. 

Sac State head coach Reggie Christensen said the decision was made to give last weekend’s two best pitchers, Takacs and sophomore left-hander Noah Lucchesi, back-to-back starts. 

Takacs put together another winning start and kept the Hornets competitive the whole way through, while battling some sickness. 

“Today was just a mental battle,” Takacs said. “I’ve got a little [head cold] going on, just came in and did everything I could to prepare my body to give us the best chance to win and just throw strikes.”

Takacs was relieved at the top of the eighth and finished his day going seven full innings, recording seven strikeouts and only allowing one hit. 

The Hornet offense struggled, only managing three hits and not putting a run on the board until the fifth inning. 

The two runs of the day came from junior outfielder Garet Crenshaw and freshman shortstop Wehiwa Aloy. Crenshaw scored on a wild pitch after a ball in the dirt got away from the Tommies’ catcher and rolled to the backstop in the fifth inning. 

In the sixth inning, Aloy hit his first collegiate home run, pushing the score to 2-0. 

Two runs was all the Hornets would need behind the strong pitching performance, as junior Max Pettey pitched the eighth and junior All-WAC closer Jack Zalasky entered in the ninth inning to secure the win for the Hornets and pick up his third save of the year. 

Story continues below gallery

Gallery • 2 Photos

Alyssa Branum

Junior third baseman Jorge Bojorquez (foreground) fields a popup as sophomore outfielder Jeffery Heard (background) watches. The Hornets picked up their first sweep of the season, scoring 12 runs in a rain-shortened weekend series.

Saturday game two: Offense surges in 10-1 win over Tommies to sweep series

The Hornets’ series with Saint Thomas was ended prematurely with the second game of a doubleheader Saturday. 

The offense showed out for Sac State after a quiet first game. Christensen lent the same advice to his team that he always has. 

“I tell these guys, you’ve got 56 games to play, take advantage of each and every one of them,” Christensen said. “I think they came out and responded well, especially after the first game where we didn’t swing the bat so well.”

Sac State’s offense picked up nine hits, 12 walks and scored ten runs — their highest total of the year so far. 

Aloy stole the show for the second straight game. The freshman had three hits and a walk in his five plate appearances, hitting his second home run of the weekend and driving in four runs. 

Despite Aloy’s lack of collegiate experience, he’s been an offensive catalyst while starting every game at shortstop. No one has gotten to witness it more than the man who hits right behind him in the lineup, junior designated hitter Cesar Valero. 

“The kid is just good,” Valero said. “Everything he does is pretty much effortless.” 

Aloy has hit .435 on the year with six extra base hits and has struck out just three times in 24 plate appearances.

On the mound, Lucchesi put together a second straight win. He posted five and two-thirds innings pitched, gave up four hits, two strikeouts and allowed the lone run scored by Saint Thomas all weekend. 

Lucchesi is now 2-0 to start his 2023 campaign after an 0-7 record in 2022. 

This Week: 

Sac State is scheduled to host The University of Nevada on Wednesday, March 1. 

Over the weekend, the Hornets will travel to Los Angeles to compete in the Dodgertown Classic, facing USC, UCLA and Tulane.