Sacramento State senior starter Tyler Stewart hadn’t set foot on a mound since April 5 before starting against Nevada on Tuesday for a midweek matchup.
Stewart had missed two starts while his injury had him sidelined. He threw 1.2 innings against Nevada, giving up three runs on two homers without getting a single strikeout. His last pitch thrown was hit for a double down the left field line.
“Having that break was definitely needed, but sometimes the execution when coming back isn’t as good,” Stewart said.
Sac State head coach Reggie Christiansen penciled in Tuesday night as a day to get Stewart some time on the bump, an attempt to build the starter back up for whatever role he might have going into the final stretch of the season.
“He was available last weekend, we just didn’t use him,” Christiansen said. “He was pretty good in the first inning, but obviously he made a couple of mistakes in the second.”
E2 | Homers from Taylor Holder and Donovan Ratfield give the Pack an early 3-1 lead!#BattleBorn pic.twitter.com/EfpzLdw27N
— Nevada Baseball (@NevadaBaseball) April 23, 2025
Stewart is an important part of a rotation that features the best earned run average in the entire Western Athletic Conference. Him being mound-ready will be a key for the Hornets as the team heads into the final stretch of the season.
The team is currently in a 3-way tie for first in the WAC between Utah Valley and Grand Canyon. Another reliable spot in the rotation could make or break their final push.
Tuesday was a non-division game that probably won’t be remembered outside of the Hornet or Nevada clubhouses. That doesn’t change the fact that the Hornets had three innings in which the Wolfpack scored three or more runs.
What can be lost by looking at the final score is that the Hornets almost escaped their 6-run deficit in the seventh inning.
Down 2-7, the Nevada pitcher hit the first two batters he faced. This set up senior outfielder Tyler White for an RBI double down the left field line, which scored both runners for a score of 7-4.
Following the double, senior outfielder Matt Masciangelo was the third batter hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second.
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Junior first baseman JP Smith sent a rocket to center field for an RBI single, scoring White from second base.
The final Hornet run came across the plate with freshman infielder Jameson Mullin’s single down the right field line, scoring Masciangelo from second base. The Hornets had gone from a 6-1 deficit since the end of the second inning to a 7-6 near comeback.
“Throughout the fall, the coaches did a great job at instilling a hate for losing as well as having trust in the next guy to get a job done,” White said. “This is one of the mentally toughest teams I’ve played for.”
That grit isn’t lost on the coaching staff, who gave their starters a chance to make the comeback. Christiansen has pulled his starting players after a big blowout to give bench players more reps in the past, but elected to leave them in despite the deficit.
“They’ve been resilient all year,” Christiansen said. “They’re trying to play the whole game, and we got within a run.”
Senior reliever Brady Chavez took the mound in the home half of the seventh. He, like the Nevada pitcher in the same inning, issued a walk and a hit batter to start the inning.
With two runners on, a single to left scored Nevada’s eighth run of the day. Another double to left brought home another two, putting the Hornets behind 10-6.
Chavez came out for senior reliever Andrew Monson. The reliever struck out the first batter swinging, but gave up a 2-run homer to the next hitter he faced.
By the end, the 1-run game became a 12-6 slaughter after a 5-run seventh sent the game from a could-be gritty comeback to a quiet ride home for the Hornets.
Sac State will return to John Smith Field on Friday at 4:00 p.m. for a 3-game home series against conference opponents UC Riverside.
