Sacramento State baseball found themselves on a four-game losing streak heading into Tuesday’s road matchup against Fresno State University.
The 12th game of the season for the Hornets saw the return of redshirt senior pitcher Elijah Rogalski. He pitched one inning in his return, getting three straight groundouts as he came back from back-to-back season-ending Tommy John surgeries.
“It was good to see Elijah back out there,” head coach Reggie Christiansen said. “That was the first appearance he’s had in a couple of years. So it was great to have his energy out there.”
The Hornets were able to get the bats into a rhythm in the second inning, getting two hits from senior second baseman Jace Jeremiah and freshman center fielder Sam Harry. Despite the two hits, Sac State was unable to capitalize after the Bulldogs turned a groundball from sophomore designated hitter Jamie Mullen into a double play.
Christiansen went to the bullpen early for the Hornets, treating Rogalski’s first start in more than two seasons as a “rehab” assignment.
Taking over in the second inning was sophomore pitcher Chase Sorlie. He pitched the second and third inning, allowing one hit while striking out two Bulldogs.
RELATED: Golden Bears bust out the brooms against the Hornets
Trouble came in the fourth inning as sophomore pitcher Jackson Halverson pitched in relief of Sorlie and struggled with his command.
Halverson immediately walked the first batter he faced and gave up a single to right-center field, granting the Bulldogs runners on first and second with no outs. Following the walk, a wild pitch eluded senior catcher Jacob Cortez, allowing the runners to advance to second and third.
A fielder’s choice to senior first baseman Luis Pimentel-Guerrero and a single into center field gave the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead and ended Halverson’s rocky night.
“I mean, I think we’ve had enough talks,” Christiansen said of long innings. “We’ve had enough meetings. There’s not much more I can say. At some point, the more meetings and more talks that we have, the more they are just going to tune you out. At this point, we just got to keep showing up and playing.”
Sac State looked to four different relievers the rest of the night to shut down the Fresno offense: senior pitcher Ian Winterhalder; junior pitcher Konner Entz, the son of Fresno State head football coach Matt Entz; sophomore pitcher Baylor Sandberg and freshman pitcher Trevor Wilson.
The Hornet bullpen allowed an additional seven hits on the night but stopped the Bulldog offense from scoring any additional runs.
The brightest spot for the Hornets’ offense came in the top of the seventh inning down two runs with two outs as sophomore left fielder Orlando Cobarrubias stepped into the batter’s box.
Cobarrubias smacked a ball deep into right-center field that hit just a few inches below the top of the fence. The ball was scooped off the ground and sent into the cutoff man near second base, but the momentum from the Cobarrubias double was subsequently squashed as Cortez fouled out to first base for the final out of the top of the seventh inning.
The eighth and ninth inning fared no better for Sac State as they went six up and six down to finish the game, losing to Fresno, 2-0.
“I learn things from my teammates every day,” Harry said. “Being around older guys, there is always something to learn from them.”
The Hornets continued to struggle to find their offensive identity through the first 13 games. Outside of their 21-2 win against Saint Joseph’s University, the Hornets have been outscored 35 to 52. Sac State managed just four hits the entire night as the team finished with a .138 batting average, well below the poor season average of .211.
“I think that’s our fifth loss in which our pitchers gave up less than five runs,” Christiansen said. “So the bright spot is we are pitching. If we can get this thing going offensively, that bodes well for the rest of the season.”
The Hornet’s season continues with a premier matchup against the No. 2-ranked team in the country, Louisiana State University, on Friday, March 6 at 4:30 p.m.
