BASEBALL THREATENS IN NINTH BUT CAN’T RALLY VS. UNLV
5/19/2012
Senior Trevor Paine led the Hornets with three hits on Saturday.
Paine and four other seniors will be honored before Sunday's regular season finale.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Down two runs with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the Hornets had a chance for their third walk-off win in the last six games but a ground ball out ended the threat and the Sacramento State baseball team lost to UNLV, 5-3, in a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon at John Smith Field.
The Hornets (29-25) tallied three runs on 12 hits with two errors while the Rebels (25-29) scored five runs on 14 hits with one error. UNLV has 30 hits over the first two games of the three-game series. Sacramento State and UNLV close out the series and the regular season at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The loss, however, has no effect on the Hornets’ Western Athletic Conference Tournament fate. The Hornets, who could be seeded anywhere from No. 1 to No. 3, will have to wait until the final day of the season to see where they will be placed.
New Mexico State defeated San Jose State on Saturday after also knocking off the Spartans on Friday. Nevada was also able to win yesterday at Hawai’i. If the Wolf Pack are victorious again tonight in Honolulu and the Aggies sweep tomorrow, the Hornets will slide to the No. 3 seed. If Nevada loses and New Mexico State also loses at SJSU tomorrow, the Hornets will be the No. 1 seed. If Nevada loses and New Mexico State wins, the Hornets end the year in a three-way tie but end up the No. 2 seed after tiebreakers.
In those final two scenarios, however, the Hornets will be co-champions of the WAC for the first time in school history. If Nevada wins tonight, they are the outright champs with 12 conference wins.
On Saturday against UNLV, the Rebels scored three of their five runs in the first three innings and tacked on single runs in the fifth and ninth. The Hornets scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. They needed three in the ninth but could not complete the rally.
The Hornets started the ninth by recording outs in the first two at-bats. But with two outs, sophomore Justin Higley, senior Hunter Adrian and junior Andrew Ayers each singled to load the bases. That brought on Chung, who had a walk-off sacrifice fly to beat Saint Mary’s in the 10th last Tuesday and a walk-off single in the 12th to defeat Hawai’i last Friday. However, on Saturday, UNLV pitcher Brady Zuniga jammed Chung with a fastball which resulted in a ground ball out to first.
Zuniga recorded his first save of the season while UNLV starter Zack Hartman (3-1) earned the win after allowing just one run on four hits. Sacramento State starter Brennan Leitao (6-5) took the loss after surrendering three runs (two earned) on seven hits in four innings.
Junior left-hander Tyler Hoelzen entered the game in relief and set the single-season school record with his 28th appearance of the season.
