Sacramento State baseball opened their season with a series at home against a future Big West opponent, UC Irvine. While the Hornets showcased excellent starting pitching in each of the three games, the bullpen and bats did not follow suit.

Friday: UC Irvine 5, Sac State 0

The opening day atmosphere could be felt as the stadium seats shook as senior pitcher Ethan Lay took to the mound for the first time this season as “POWER” by Kanye West played through the speakers at John Smith Field.

“It was super fun,” Lay said. “Obviously, the adrenaline was high, but you know, I was just trying to stay controlled and not let the atmosphere kind of dictate my emotions.”

Lay opened up the game by dominating, throwing five scoreless innings and striking out eight batters. Lay allowed just two hits and six men on base, stranding all of them before fifth-year pitcher Andrew Monson took over in the sixth as Lay hit 87 pitches.

“[Lay] was good. He had all four pitches going for strikes,” head coach Reggie Christiansen said. “I thought he did a really nice job.”

With the game in a 0-0 standstill, Monson took over and retired his first three batters. Returning in the seventh, Monson got a quick out on a fly ball to first base before the game unraveled.

Monson hit the next batter and gave Anteater junior first baseman Landon Gaz the chance to take the lead off of a pitch left high and inside. The right-hander turned hard on the ball, blasting a 406-foot home run with an exit velocity of 109 mph up to the fourth floor of Parking Structure 1.

The game quickly spiraled out of control after that. The Hornets used three different pitchers to try to stop the Anteater onslaught, but a five-run seventh inning helped the Anteaters pull away.

The Hornets only mustered one hit from redshirt junior infielder Jakob Poturnak the entire night.

“Not being able to drive in runs comes down to taking pitches that you shouldn’t be swinging at, staying relaxed and composed, and swinging at the pitches you want,” Poturnak said. “I think just hitting like that takes us a long way.”

While the Hornets were not happy with the result, they were thrilled with the turnout from the fans.

“I’ve been here 18 years, and that’s about as good a crowd we’ve had on the home opener,” Christiansen said. “I am just disappointed we didn’t come out and play better for them.”

Saturday: UC Irvine 7, Sac State 3

Game two in the series started similarly as junior pitcher Kurt Marton threw six scoreless innings and only allowed two hits to the explosive Anteater offense. Marton threw 81 pitches with elite command, as he did not walk a single batter.

“I feel like just the preparation throughout the last couple of weeks and just throughout the fall here [is what made me successful tonight],“ Marton said.

Replacing Marton in the seventh inning was freshman pitcher Trevor Wilson. Wilson’s first inning of college baseball started off with a single, a sacrifice bunt, a walk and a hit batter. On the next at-bat with the bases loaded, he allowed a line drive single off his body, and the first run of the game was scored.

Wilson got the last out of the seventh with a fly out to right field.

The runs for the Anteaters did not stop there. In the eighth inning, the flood gates reopened and the water rose above the Hornets’ nest.

Wilson got the first batter to fly out to right-center, then allowed a single and failed to convert on a pickoff that sailed over senior first baseman Luis Pimentel-Guerrero’s glove, allowing the runner to advance to third. After hitting the next batter, the short but tough night for Wilson ended. Christiansen went to the bullpen for the second time, this time in favor of junior pitcher Sean Carey.

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Carey fared no better in the tough position he was put in, giving up four earned runs off of two hits and a walk in 1/3 innings pitched. Christiansen went to the bullpen again in the eighth inning, opting for junior pitcher Raul Valdivia to slow the game down. Valdivia managed to get the last out in the eighth, but the damage was already done.

“Yeah, we’re going to have to figure that out. I think there’s some guys that are certainly capable,” Christiansen said of the bullpen. ”I just don’t know who those guys are yet.”

The Hornets made a slight comeback in the bottom of the ninth, scoring three runs off a walk and an error from Anteater junior second baseman Noah Alvarez. The Hornets finally scored their first runs of the series in the 18 total innings of play, but it was nothing more than a consolation prize.

Saturday: UC Irvine 6, Sac State 2

The third game of the series saw the Hornets’ first lead and subsequent meltdown.

In the second inning, senior catcher Jacob Cortez singled off a ball hit to Anteater junior shortstop Zach Fjelstad. Hornet sophomore outfielder Orlando Cobarrubias came next and hit a line drive into right-center and advanced off an errant throw from the outfield.

With runners now on second and third, Cortez scored off a wild pitch and junior designated hitter Ayden Hadley hit a groundout to first base that sent Cobarrubias home. The Hornets had all the momentum up two after the second inning.

Then the third inning came.

Starting sophomore pitcher Carson Timothy secured his first out with a fly ball to center field before running into trouble, hitting the following batter and walking two of the next three.

Now with the bases loaded and in a full count to Anteater redshirt junior designated hitter Frankie Carney, Timothy only needed one out to get out of the jam he created.

Carney slapped at a low, offspeed pitch just on the inside of the plate from Timothy. The ball rolled to the gap in between second and first base and sent Hornet junior second baseman Cameron Sewell sliding stomach first while stabbing at the ground ball. Collecting the ball into his glove, Sewell gathered himself and threw a sidearm missile to first.

Yet, for all the effort, the ball was wide of the mark, ricocheting off the visiting dugout and allowing two runs to score.

Timothy struck out the next batter and ended his night with three innings pitched, allowing two unearned runs.

The remainder of the game for the Hornets saw five different pitchers in the remaining six innings, as this pitching freefall allowed four more runs over the rest of the game as the Hornets were unable to complete the comeback.

The Hornets’ offense continued to stifle amid the Anteaters’ pitching.

“I think when you get in the box, it’s all mental,” freshman center fielder Sam Harry said. “You prepare before you swing. Then once you’re in there, it’s all mental, just having a good approach.”

Sac State mustered 12 hits and five runs while being outscored five to 18 in the series.

The Hornets look to bounce back in their next series at home against Saint Joseph’s University at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19.

“We need four wins. 
I mean, that’s what we need to do,” Christiansen said. “We need to win four games, we need to play better in every phase of the game.”