The Sacramento State Hornets flew into Phoenix, Arizona, to play against GCU for a 3-game series and a first-place face-off, as both teams were matched in a 3-way tie.

The Hornets blew the Lopes out of the water with a level of offensive outburst not seen since Sac State head coach Reggie Christiansen took up the job 15 years ago.

Friday: Sacramento State 15, GCU 5

GCU has won four consecutive titles, a titan in the Western Athletic Conference. With first place on the line, the anticipation for this series couldn’t have been higher for the Hornets, who came into this series as the unquestioned underdogs.

The Hornets had something to prove. They haven’t won a series in Arizona since 2016 or a series against the Lopes since 2019.

The most important series of Sac State’s season couldn’t have started worse. Back-to-back solo home runs for GCU were sent over the right field fence off of senior starter Evan Gibbons in the first inning.

The Hornets were anticipated to have the better pitching staff, featuring the best ERA in the conference. Their best starter giving up two bombs at the sound of the starting gun didn’t bode well for the visiting team.

What followed in the third inning was a marathon of Hornet hitting that lasted not just Friday night but carried over into the Saturday follow-up.

Almost every member of the Hornets had a multi-hit game on Friday, putting together 21 hits for 15 runs.

A near-constant barrage of singles found their way past the Lopes’ infielders, sending a parade of Hornets across the bags in the third inning. After six hits – all singles and one error – Sac State put up a responsive 5-run inning.

The Hornets followed up their five run third with five more in the fifth, while the Lopes hit another homer in the fourth to cut the deficit to 10-3.

By the end, the Hornets had 21 hits, the most the team has achieved since Christiansen took up the job.

Perhaps the best way to encapsulate how unbelievable of a performance Friday was for the Hornets is senior catcher Jacob Cortez’s game.

The catcher had a total of five hits and three RBIs all season. In the series opener, he nearly doubled his stats with four knocks, matching his career high, along with three RBIs.

“I was super amped up and ready to get back on the field and compete with my teammates,” Cortez said. “We stuck to the game plan from the beginning and kept passing the torch down the lineup. I think it was just us playing our way of baseball.”

GCU mustered one final shot in the seventh with another 2-run homer to right field off Gibbons, cutting the lead down to nine at 14-5. All of the home team’s runs came off the long ball, hit off Gibbons.

The Hornets needed just one more run to bring the mercy rule into effect. This was a task easily met with a lead-off triple by senior outfielder Tyler White. He scored two batters later with junior outfielder Luis Pimentel-Guerrero’s RBI single.

Senior reliever Andrew Monson came out for the bottom of the eighth and ended the game with three straight strikeouts.

Saturday: Sacramento State 14, GCU 4

Despite the drumming the Hornets gave the Arizona team in the opener, there was no guarantee the Hornets could replicate a similar performance Saturday.

The Lopes feature a lineup full of lefties; their loss against Gibbons was the first they’ve suffered to a right-handed pitcher the entire season.

Taking the mound for the Hornets was junior starter Ethan Lay, another right-handed pitcher. He’d have to navigate one of the most potent offenses in the division, which had something to prove following a beatdown of epic proportions the night prior.

GCU ranks second in the WAC with 51 home runs, falling behind only Utah Valley at 67.

The Hornets took the early lead with small-ball singles throughout the lineup. Freshman infielder Michael Perazzo capped off the scoring with an RBI bunt that he raced out for a single, giving the Hornets a 3-0 lead in the second.

GCU didn’t wait around this time, fighting back early and hard against the Hornet starter.

A couple of singles found empty grass, putting runners on first and second base in the second inning. A dribbler down the right field line was good enough to score the first run of the game for the Lopes, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

The next batter rolled a grounder to first for junior first baseman JP Smith, who stepped on first base for the out, but it was enough to score another. The fielder’s choice reduced the Hornet lead to one run at 3-2.

After both teams went down quiet in the third, the Hornets decided to ring the Lopes’ bell.

A lead-off double by senior outfielder Ryan Christiansen started the Hornets’ third 5-run inning of the weekend.

Ryan Christiansen was scored on another double by White, who sent a line drive down the left field line. White made it home after a Smith single through the left side, his first hit of the series.

The Lopes made a call to the bullpen, but the new pitcher beamed senior outfielder Matt Masciangelo with his fourth pitch of the day, loading the bases. Poturnak sent a bases-clearing triple to center field, giving the Hornets an 8-2 lead.

The Hornets post their third five-run inning of the series on Saturday night to break open a one-run game #StingersUp pic.twitter.com/aKXBuTlC68

— Sac State Baseball (@SacStBaseball) May 4, 2025

The Lopes answered back with their own lead-off double in the fourth, which was scored on an RBI single to center field.

Unfortunately for Lay, he was chased out of the game by the Lopes in the fifth, after a lead-off homer to right field made it 8-4. He was replaced by senior reliever Noah Lucchesi, one of the few lefty arms the Hornet bullpen has to offer.

The reliever was up to the task, throwing five scoreless innings and allowing just three hits while issuing six strikeouts.

“This was one of the bigger outings in my college career,” Lucchesi said. “Just the rivalry between the two teams and both teams at the top in the conference was a very important game for us.”

The Hornets continued to pile on, much like the day prior. The scoring was highlighted with a massive home run from the Hornets’ leading slugger Poturnak.

He connected with his first since April 17, sending a solo shot to right field for the Hornets’ eleventh run.

The Hornets never took their foot off the break. White scored his third RBI of the day on a double in the eighth, followed by Smith’s second in the ninth on a single.

Sophomore infielder Cameron Sewell scored the Hornets’ final run in the top of the ninth on a single past the second baseman, giving the final score of 14-4.

The Hornets defeated the perennial WAC favorite with a mercy rule 10-run win on Friday, an accomplishment made that much more unimaginable by the fact that they did it two nights in a row.

Sunday: Sacramento State 2, GCU 9

The Hornets crashed back down to reality on Sunday. The loss was postponed by a great start from junior pitcher Carson Latimer, who threw 4.1 innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits.

The Lopes hit four extra base hits, but Latimer worked through the traffic. The starter allowed four doubles by the end of his outing, but pitched for ground balls that his infield fielded cleanly all night.

Despite all the extra base hits, the Lopes left 14 runners on the base paths.

After three days of late-season ball, the infield dirt was rock solid, creating crazy bounces all over the diamond. Hornet infielders like Perazzo were unfazed. He kept up with every unpredictable ball sent his way all afternoon.

But defense can only do so much.

Another lead-off double put a runner on second, who advanced from third to home after two consecutive groundouts for a 1-0 Lopes lead.

The Hornets fought back in the fourth with a game-tying solo blast by Smith. In the same inning, the Hornets strung together a single by Masciangelo and a Poturnak double, putting runners on second and third.

Sewell grounded out to second but gave Masciangelo enough time to hustle home, retaking the lead 2-1.

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Not only was that the last time the Hornets would hold a lead in the series but it’d also be their last scoring inning.

Monson took over for Latimer in the fifth on just a day’s rest following his single frame on Friday. The reliever walked the first batter he saw, adding to the runner whom Latimer had previously allowed to reach on a double.

Junior Lopes first baseman Zach Yorke took Monson deep, hitting a 3-run homer over the right field fence, his second of the series. The blast gave the Lopes the 4-2 lead they’d hold until the end.

Christiansen went to his ace redshirt sophomore closer, Kade Brown, to relieve Monson. He called in his closer earlier than he ever has all season. Brown found himself out of his familiar role, pitching in the fifth inning in a losing game.

Brown allowed a triple to left field, scoring a runner from second for a 5-2 lead, who previously reached on a fielder’s choice.

The Lopes continued to have good at-bats. A walk followed by a single scored the sixth Lope run, followed by an RBI double for the seventh.

With their best bullpen arms in Brown, Monson and Lucchesi now either used up or unavailable, Christiansen sent out four bullpen arms for the next four innings to try their best to stop the bleeding.

The Lopes kept up the attack, extending their lead in the sixth, seventh and eighth. By the end, GCU had given the Hornets a taste of their own medicine, racking up nine runs on 14 hits, versus the Hornets’ measly six.

This was a disappointing end to a series no one could have anticipated. Nonetheless, the Hornets left Arizona with the top spot in the WAC in hand and plenty to be excited about.

The entire Hornet lineup had great at-bats all weekend. Poturnak, who was their best hitter to start the season, seems to be back to his explosive self.

“Coach Christiansen noticed my front foot wasn’t getting down in time, so we made that adjustment,” Poturnak said. “Since then, I’ve been seeing the ball a lot better and finally feel on time for the fastball again.”

They’ll need every bat they can get as they head to the final stretch of the season. While the pitching staff didn’t have the cleanest outings of the year, they have time to make up for it.

“A sweep against GCU would’ve been great, but we’ve been playing some really good baseball lately,” Lucchesi said. “If we keep that focus and carry this momentum into the next month, we’re in a good spot.”

The Hornets will return to John Smith Field for a single game Tuesday night against Nevada at 6:00 p.m.