The sound of batting practice can be heard across campus from John Smith Field ahead of Sacramento State’s baseball’s final season in the Western Athletic Conference before moving to the Big West Conference.
The Hornets look to continue their momentum after going 15-9 in conference play last season before falling in the WAC tournament to Utah Valley University and Abilene Christian University.
“I think that’s just being consistent,” head coach Reggie Christiansen said. “We talk about just trying to do what we can to be the best at getting better each and every day. At the end of the year, if we do that, I think good things will happen.”
The Hornets look to overcome the departure of three major players in the program due to the 2025 MLB Draft: pitcher Carson Latimer, who was drafted to the Cincinnati Reds 354th overall; infielder JP Smith, the 509th overall selection by the Minnesota Twins; and pitcher Kade Brown, who was selected 590th by the former Oakland, now Sacramento Athletics.
One of the players looking to fill this role is redshirt junior infielder Jakob Poturnak. The man from Manila led the team with 13 home runs and a team-high slugging percentage of .541, after transferring from Cloud Community College and being named to the Canadian Baseball Network’s All-Canadian first team.
“I’ve already proven that I can do it,” Poturnak said. “So through all the work I’ve been putting in since the fall, I’ve only gotten better since then, and there is no reason I shouldn’t have some momentum going into this year.”
Another transfer looking to continue his dominance after his first season in the green and gold is senior outfielder Luis Pimentel-Guerrero. He led the Hornets with a .351 batting average last season, good for 10th in the WAC, while driving in three home runs.
“My mentality, my confidence needs to stay there [like last season] and good things will happen,” Pimentel-Guerrero said.
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This anticipation is not lost on the players and the coaching staff as they look ahead in their schedule. The Hornets go on the road to play 2023 and 2025 national champion Louisiana State University before facing UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
“I think we have a great schedule in front of us,” Christiansen said. “[It’s] a non-conference schedule with the preseason No. 1 and No. 2 team in the country and some other really good opponents.”
Senior Ethan Lay is one of the pitchers tasked with stopping the explosive offenses the Hornets will face this season.
“I’m just trying to stay in the strike zone and limit walks,” Lay said. “So I can go into those long innings, get deep in the game and save some of our pitching for later in the series.”
Lay relied on his curveball while dominating the competition last season, posting a strikeout rate of 7.82 strikeouts per nine innings in 13 starts and finishing with a 3.55 ERA.
“My best pitch is my curveball,” Lay said. “I can throw it in the zone and for strikeouts. I steal a lot of strikes on that pitch.”
Christiansen enhanced his coaching staff in the 2025 offseason: promoting longtime assistant David Flores to associate head coach, Tony Bloomfield to director of player development, Casey DeMello to director of operations and hiring former Hornet pitcher Grant Kukuk to be the pitching coach.
“[Kukuk]’s been great,” Lay said. “We have been implementing a lot of different things in every part of pitching from [pitch velocity] to working on some mechanical stuff and then also working on the pitches, just trying to make that arsenal even better.”
Learning from these experienced players and coaches is standout freshman outfielder Sam Harry, who was an All Continental 5A first team selection coming out of Castle View High School in Castle Rock, Colorado; freshman pitcher Trevor Wilson, who posted a 2.13 ERA in 11 appearances out of Oakmont High School in Roseville, California; and freshman pitcher Devin James, who posted a 2.46 ERA over 42.4 innings out of Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks, California.
“Harry is an exciting young player to watch,” Christiansen said. “Obviously we have a couple young pitchers as well [Wilson and James]; those guys stand out.”
With the last season in the WAC on the horizon, the Hornets look to make a strong finish in the 2026 season before moving over to the Big West.
“I’m just excited, I’m excited to start,” Pimentel-Guerrero said. “I think this year is going to be special.”
This special year starts at home against their future Big West opponent UC Irvine at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 13.
