Sacramento State baseball found themselves on the road for their second to last Western Athletic Conference series of the season against California Baptist University.
The Hornets went from fifth to fourth in the standings with their series win against the Lancers.
May 8: Cal Baptist: 5, Sac State 4
The first game of the series opened after a scoreless first inning with a single to right field from junior second baseman Cameron Sewell in the second. A single from redshirt sophomore left fielder Brett Ott advanced Sewell to second before they were both brought in from a towering home run over the left center field wall from freshman center fielder Sam Harry to make the game 3-0.
Here is that blast from Harry. #Hornets pic.twitter.com/4by5Ph9gSX
— Tamer Bohatch (@TamerBohatch) May 11, 2026
Sac State’s lead was quickly erased when the Lancers put pressure onto Sac State’s ace, senior pitcher Ethan Lay, in the other half of the second inning. Cal Baptist opened the inning up with a solo home run over the wall in left center field and a triple to right field.
The Lancer on third was sent home by a single that was given an extra base by a throwing error by sophomore shortstop Michael Perazzo. The man on second was then retired on a fielder’s choice from Perazzo as he was heading to third.
A stolen base advanced the Lancer on first to second, and a single tied the game at 3-3.
Lay gave up one more run in the third and fifth inning, capping off his night with five earned runs on 10 hits, while striking out three Lancers with 86 pitches.
“I thought Cal Baptist had a pretty good plan on how they were going to attack Ethan tonight,” said head coach Reggie Christiansen.
The Hornets answered back in the fifth when junior right fielder Erick Dessens smashed a double to right center field. Dessens advanced to third on a pitch and was sent home on a wild throw off a ground ball from redshirt junior designated hitter Jakob Poturnak.
Cal Baptist regained the lead by a score of 5-4 on a flurry of singles and a double in the bottom of the fifth. This score held up the remainder of the game as Sac State’s offense fell flat, and junior pitcher Sean Carey dominated in the final three innings.
Carey recorded a 1-2-3 inning in each of his three innings that spanned from the sixth to the eighth, striking out five Lancers on 36 pitches.
“I felt good tonight having all my pitches working,” Carey said. “It felt like just being prepared to go into the game helped me a lot.”
Sac State finished the night with nine hits on their way to the 5-4 loss.
“They’re [Cal Baptist] good,” Christiansen said. “It’s a really good team. They’ve won a lot of games. We’re going to have to find a way to do some things a little bit differently offensively.”
May 9: Sac State 6, Cal Baptist 5
Sac State opened up the second game of the series similarly to the first, scoring three runs early, as Harry and Dessens hit back-to-back singles in the top of the first inning.
With men on first and second, senior designated hitter Ryan Ellis smacked a double into left center field to bring Dessens to third and Harry home. This lead was expanded upon when Sewell hit a sacrifice fly and Ott hit a single to center field, giving Sac State a 3-0 lead.
“It’s really important to start early,” Ellis said of his scoring. “It sets the tone and gives our pitching some breathing room which happened to be the difference tonight.”
Here is that double from Ellis: #Hornets pic.twitter.com/FRM7pNwiQu
— Tamer Bohatch (@TamerBohatch) May 12, 2026
The Hornets added one more run in the top of the second on a groundout from Dessens that sent home the double from Harry.
Starting junior pitcher Kurt Marton had a solid first two innings of production, only allowing two men on base with walks while striking out five Lancers before things grew ugly in the bottom of the third.
In the blink of an eye, the Lancers scored one run on three straight singles, and now had runners on first and second with no outs. These two men were sent home by a home run from Lancer graduate right fielder Bryce McFeely.
The game did not remain tied at four for long, as the next Lancer batter hit a solo shot over the center field wall to make the game 5-4.
“I thought Kurt Marton did a pretty good job in the first couple of innings but ran into a tough third,” Christiansen said. “The ballpark plays really, really small. So, he made a couple of pitches that most parks are outs, but here they are home runs.”
The Hornets rallied back after a tough third in the fifth with two more runs as back-to-back singles from Dessens and Ellis were advanced 90 feet from a Pimentel-Guerrero groundout. The Lancers then walked senior third baseman Jace Jeremiah to load the bases.
The tying run was then walked in and a sacrifice fly to center field from Ott put the Hornets back on top 6-5.
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Sac State’s bullpen took over for Marton in the fourth inning and dominated the rest of the game. Fifth-year pitcher Andrew Monson, sophomore pitcher Konner Entz and freshman pitcher Trevor Wilson went a combined six innings, only allowing three hits, sealing the come-from-behind victory for the Hornets.
Monson earned his second win of the season and Wilson recorded his fifth save as a defensive deadlock set in.
“I feel blessed that I’m in this role [closer],” Wilson said. “I’ve worked hard all of my life to get to this spot and I’m glad that my hard work is paying off. I love being in those situations. It’s where I thrive and I like having the game in my hands. I’m thankful that Coach Christiansen and the rest of the coaches have the faith in me to go out and just be me.”
May 10: Sac State 19, Cal Baptist 2
The rubber match of the series saw the Hornets dominate the game after giving up an early run.
Sac State went 1-2-3 in the top of the first and looked to sophomore pitcher Carson Timothy to keep them in the game. His night started unceremoniously with a single to left field that was advanced by a wild pitch. The runner on second was then sent in by a double down the left field line.
Timothy scored the three remaining outs from the next three batters and the Hornet’s bats got to work.
Jeremiah led off the top of the second, taking a strike before resetting for the next pitch. He wiggled his bat and kicked his left leg high in the air, swinging hellaciously at a pitch that was up and away off the second fence in right field to tie the game at 1-1.
“I felt like I was seeing the ball well coming off yesterday,” Jeremiah said. “I just wanted to put a good swing out there. I saw a fastball elevated and a pitch that I could drive. Just tried to stay with my approach and it worked out.”
Here is that HR to open things up for the #Hornets from Jeremiah. pic.twitter.com/O2oZQaIYW1
— Tamer Bohatch (@TamerBohatch) May 12, 2026
This at-bat started a 19-unanswered run streak with 10 of those runs coming in the eighth inning as Timothy settled into the game. He went six innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out four Lancers on 83 pitches.
Senior pitcher Colin Hunter took over in the seventh, allowing one earned run on two hits while striking out one batter in 29 pitches.
Sac State combined for 18 hits on the night, with Pimentel-Guerro and Ott accounting for four apiece. Pimentel-Guerrero drove in six RBIs on the night as the Hornets 10-run ruled the Lancers in the eighth inning by a score of 19-2.
“I think just erasing yesterday’s game for me was big,” Pimentel-Guerrero said. “I needed a mental reset. I know that pitchers never beat me, it’s just myself. So, going up there to do damage and being less defensive worked today.”
This marks the Hornets third WAC series win of the season, jumping to fourth place in the conference with a record of 8-7.
Sac State’s final WAC series of the season starts at 6 p.m. at John Smith Field on Thursday against the No. 1 ranked Tarleton State.
“We have a team that can compete with any team in the country,” Pimentel-Guerrero said. “When we play clean baseball and just try to pass it off to the next person. We are a very tough team to beat. We all believe that our team can do some special things when we play clean and just keep things simple.”
