Sacramento State’s Tuesday evening match-up against the Pacific Tigers in Stockton demonstrated how unlikely heroes can have a big impact.

Hornets’ junior starting pitcher Colin Hunter took the mound against the Tigers for his fifth start of the year.

Hunter has had the weakest outings of all the Sac State starters. He’s been limited to three innings in all his starts except against South Dakota State on March 1, where he didn’t even make it out of the first inning.

The Hornet bullpen was full of tired arms, necessitating a strong start from Hunter who didn’t have the team’s most potent relievers backing him up.

Hunter began the game by retiring six Tigers in order in the first two innings, setting the tone for what was a dominant game by the entire team, on both sides of the plate.

Sophomore infielder Cameron Sewell has had a similarly difficult start to the season, with his batting average hitting a lowly .261. In his first at-bat he fell behind after two quick strikes in the second inning before he turned on a high outside fastball.

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Sewell sent it over the opposite field fence for a 3-run homer putting the Hornets ahead 3-0. The home run turned out to be a rally starter and the Hornet offense began a marathon around the diamond that didn’t stop until the ninth inning.

Hunter threw another scoreless third inning, passing the baton to the offense to score another run on a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead. Sewell went up to bat once again with two runners on.

Once again down 0-2 after whiffing on two offerings in the zone, Sewell was in familiar territory. Pacific’s starter came back at the hitter, who seemed happy to swing at anything he was offered, with a change-up that took up more of the plate than the pitcher probably wanted.

The hanging breaking ball was pounced on by Sewell, lifting the ball before it came down just over the outreached glove of the Tigers’ right fielder who’s aspirations of robbing the 3-run homer came up short. The ball cleared both his glove and the fence to put the Hornets up 9-0.

The screams coming from the visiting dugout might have been audible in Sacramento if you listened closely enough; you probably couldn’t hear the home team or crowd if you stood just outside the Stockton stadium.

…
A sac fly by Christiansen and a two-run single by Kligman with the bases loaded leads to this…

2 AB’s ➡️ 2 HR’s for Cameron Sewell, who has already driven in six on the night for a 9-0 Hornet lead in the 3rd#StingersUp @wacsports pic.twitter.com/SCGqX5yOlD

— Sac State Baseball (@SacStBaseball) March 19, 2025

Sewell’s monster game matched his 2024 home run total, putting him at four this season. His six RBIs Tuesday night brought his total to 14 on the year.

“I stuck to my approach, both times I trusted my hands,” Sewell said. “It also feels good to get my bat going a little bit again.”

This Hornets team knows all too well that no lead is large enough. They’re just 3-2 when scoring 10 or more runs in a game.

“I think it was a great start to the game but it’s not over until you get 27 outs,” Sewell said.

If the Tigers weren’t dejected enough, Sac State continued their onslaught in the fourth. They scored three runs on an RBI double and a towering 2-run shot to right field from junior outfielder Luis Pimentel-Guerrero brought the lead to 12-0.

“In my previous outings, I did a bad job of putting up a zero after we scored,” Hunter said.

The starter allowed just five hits while stranding six Tigers on base. It wasn’t until the sixth when Pacific strung together a lead-off walk and three consecutive singles for a score of 12-1.

After loading the bases and allowing the run to score, Hunter stayed in and recorded the two outs he needed.

“This was also the first outing where I had a feel for every pitch the whole game,” Hunter said. “That was the biggest difference.”

Sac State head coach Reggie Christiansen said he was happy to see the fifth spot in the rotation go deep into the game. The performance provided some much-needed relief to his tired bullpen ahead of their three-game weekend series.

“He did a really nice job tonight,” Christiansen said. “Obviously, scoring those runs early gave him some breathing room.”

The Tigers mustered just two more runs in the eighth inning on two RBI singles, but the Hornets had the last word after Guerrero hit his own RBI single, his third of the day. The final score after 24 combined hits was 13-3.

Sac State will welcome UT Arlington Friday at John Smith Field starting Friday at 3 p.m.