Sacramento State had an opportunity to secure the top spot in the Western Athletic Conference in a series against California Baptist University but settled for a 3-way tie for first place.

In the two games the Hornets did win, they relied on outstanding performances from their starters and an elite closer to slam the door shut on a struggling offense.

Thursday: California Baptist 0, Sac State 3

All that stood between Sac State and disaster was a 3-run inning in the second.

Two lead-off singles made way for redshirt sophomore infielder Jakob Poturnak. The Hornet home run leader turned on the first pitch he saw, sending it over the left field fence for a 3-run homer.

The 3-0 lead was all the run support the Hornet pitching staff received on Thursday, April 17. The lack of runs necessitated stand-out performances from their starters and closers.

Senior starter Evan Gibbons spun one of his best outings of the year, a 6-inning shutout gem. The starter issued no walks and allowed just six hits while striking out six throughout the game.

The closest the Lancers came to scoring any runs was in the sixth. A lead-off single was followed up with a double, putting a Lancer runner on third for the first time.

Gibbons was unfazed. On his 98th pitch to his 26th batter faced, he issued a ground out to end the inning, stranding two on second and third.

Redshirt sophomore pitcher Kade Brown took over in the eighth. Brown allowed just one hit and struck out four across his two innings. The performance from both pitchers put together a combined shutout for the Hornet pitching staff, their fourth of the season.

Preseason All-American and Stopper of the Year candidate Kade Brown gets the swinging “K” to pick up his 10th save of the year… #StingersUp pic.twitter.com/8c9nc4W2TF

— Sac State Baseball (@SacStBaseball) April 18, 2025

Brown’s two innings got him his tenth save. The next highest in the WAC is two.

Sac State head coach Reggie Christiansen said he wasn’t surprised by the scoreless performance of his pitching staff.

“Obviously, it’s nice having one of the best closers in all of college baseball,” Christiansen said.

Friday: California Baptist 8, Sac State 4

The first half of Friday’s game was all Sac State. Through the first four innings, four unanswered runs on two RBI singles and two doubles, respectively, gave the Hornets a commanding 4-0 lead.

However, with senior starter Tyler Stewart out due to illness, the rest of the Hornet bullpen was left with the responsibility of keeping the Lancers off the board.

Junior pitcher Carson Latimer took the mound first. Aside from a rocky fourth where he walked one and hit another, the reliever did what was asked of him. He beat his season-high with four scoreless innings.

Senior reliever Noah Lucchesi made his seventeenth appearance of the season. The lefty has carved out the swing man role and has been Christiansen’s go-to choice to transition from their starter to Brown throughout the season.

His reputation as a reliable arm made his disastrous fifth inning all the more surprising. The reliever couldn’t locate his pitches, hitting the first batter he faced on his second pitch of the outing.

That runner was scored by the very next batter, who hit a double to the left field corner, closing the gap to three runs.

Of the next four batters Lucchesi faced, three reached on singles, loading the bases. Christiansen pulled the reliever for sophomore pitcher Bryce Stockton. An obviously disappointed and frustrated Lucchesi shouted into his glove on the way back to the dugout.

The first batter Stockton faced hit a sacrifice fly to right field, making it 3-4, before a double down the line cleared the bases. Two runs scored, giving the Lancers a 5-4 lead and giving Lucchesi his worst outing of the season.

“He wasn’t sharp today,” Christiansen said of Lucchesi. “I don’t know what it was, but he wasn’t sharp today.”

Of the five pitchers that took the mound on Friday, only Lucchesi and freshman reliever Jackson Halverson allowed Lancer runs to score.

Halverson relieved Stockton in the seventh, allowing four hits from the six batters he faced. A double to the left field corner scored two, followed by an RBI to left, cementing the Lancers’ win at 8-4.

The Hornets were retired in order in the seventh and eighth. The game ended with senior outfielder Matt Masciangelo earning the final hit of the game, but he never advanced past first base.

Even with the 4-0 Hornet lead to start, the explosive fifth from the Lancers proved too much for the Hornets, who never answered back after scoring their last in the fourth inning.

Saturday: California Baptist 2, Sac State 6

For the first time in the series, California Baptist drew first blood.

In the first inning, junior starting pitcher Ethan Lay allowed a walk, which was bookended by two singles to right field, the latter of which brought home the first run of the game.

Lay allowed four runners in the first, giving the Lancers a chance to jump ahead early. But two swinging strikeouts and a pop-up brought the threat to a close.

“That was probably the most mentally domed up I’ve been at a start in a while, and to actually get out of it was awesome,” Lay said. “I couldn’t really get into a groove until the third or fourth, and to start like that then be able to bounce out of it, I’m really happy about it.”

Now trailing for the first time in the series, the Hornets put together a responsive bottom of the first, thanks to junior first baseman JP Smith. The slugger hit a booming 2-run homer off the left field parking garage following a lead-off single, taking the lead 2-1.

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The Hornets continued to slug against the struggling Lancers, whose pitchers couldn’t stay out of the zone. The home team scored in each of the first five innings.

Junior outfielder Luis Pimentel-Guerrero was at the center of the Hornets’ explosive day at the plate. He went 3-3 and scored two RBIs.

“I was talking to Reggie yesterday, and he was just like, ‘Just grip and rip today. Hold nothing back,’ and I feel like I did that,” Luis Pimentel Guerrero said. “I just kind of focused on hitting – less to think about.”

In the second, Guerrero scored the runner from third on a sacrifice fly, after reaching on a single for a 3-1 lead. Just one inning later, he hit an RBI of his own on a double to left field for a 4-1 extension.

Freshman catcher Nikhil Beasley ambushed a first pitch offering for an RBI single back up the middle for the Hornets’ fifth run. This was a rare RBI for the defensively-focused position player, his fifth of the season.

Closing the scoring for the Hornets was Guerrero, who earned his third hit of the day on a single down the left field line. Smith scored from second, giving the Hornets a 5-run lead.

Lay’s day ended in the seventh after allowing a lead-off single. That runner later scored on an RBI single up the middle, tagging Lay with his second earned run of the day and bringing the final score to 6-2.

Brown once again entered in the eighth and pitched two scoreless innings, while striking out two for his eleventh save, securing the Hornets’ series win.

“If you look at this weekend – 27 innings – we really only had two bad innings. That’s a good team,” Christiansen said. “Ethan getting out of that first inning with just the one run is huge.”

Lay was awarded the win for his 7-inning effort, meaning he was the winning pitcher the day the Hornets tied Grand Canyon and Utah Valley for first place.

“This is the happiest I’ve been all year. It’s an awesome, awesome moment,” Lay said.

For some Hornets, like Smith, it’s the first time they’ve been in first place since becoming a Hornet.

“It’s dope. It’s definitely a pleasure,” Smith said. “Honestly, my team is carrying a lot of the load. I’ve been kinda there doing me, if it wasn’t for them, I don’t think we’d be in this spot.”

Smith was quick to commend his teammates, especially role players who often get just a few innings here and there.

The veteran specifically called out freshman infielder Michael Perazzo, who was named among the top 100 shortstops in the 2025 Brooks Wallace Award watch list just before the series kicked off.

“Guys like that are carrying this team, especially the bench guys who pick us up when we’re down,” Smith said.

The job isn’t done, though. The Hornets will face off against both Grand Canyon and Utah Valley in back-to-back weekend series.

“We keep grinding every day. Every day is a new opportunity,” Smith said. “We really have to put them away and take advantage of them being down. Just keep playing the game of baseball like we know how to.”

The Hornets will fly to Nevada to take on the Wolfpack in Reno for a single game at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.