Sacramento State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first after junior John Acha scored on a passed ball with the bases loaded. Acha led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to second when sophomore Matt Wilson was hit by Vulcan starter Clay Daugherty. Acha would tag up to third after junior Jesse Schmidt’s deep fly to center before junior Mikela Olsen drew a walk to load the bases. With junior Chris Kinsey at the plate, Daugherty threw an inside pitch that Nalei Sooto short-armed, allowing the ball to roll back to the wall and score Acha.

The Hornets would add two more runs in the second after an RBI single by freshman Jim Strombach and a sacrifice fly by sophomore Everet Rincon. Senior Tim Reimer led off the inning with a double down the left-field line and then scored on Strombach’s single to left field. On the play, Vulcan left fielder Douglas Nassimbene allowed the ball to go through his legs allowing Strombach to reach third base. Rincon followed with a deep fly to right field to score Strombach.

After freshman Mel Cuckovich held Hawai’i-Hilo scoreless through four innings, the Vulcans would take a 4-3 lead in the fifth after scoring four runs on five hits with two outs. After consecutive groundouts to start the inning, Alan Sarmiento drew a full-count walk. Kaliko Oligo followed with a hard shot to the right side that Olsen managed to keep in the infield for a base hit. With a man on first and third, Nassimbene tied the game with a home run to left field. In the next at-bat, Scott McLaughlin hit a double down the left-field line to put runners on second and third and Tom Henderson would drive in the go-ahead run with a comebacker that hit Cuckovich and rolled to towards the third-base line. Rosebrock entered in relief and got Daniel Lockett to ground out to third to end the threat.

Sacramento State would regain the lead for good in the fifth after an RBI single by Acha and a sacrifice by Olsen. Rincon was hit by Daugherty to lead off the inning and then advanced to third on a wild pitch by Daugherty and a throwing error by Sooto on the same play. Acha followed with a single through the left side to tie the game and then reached third on a stolen base to second and a wild pitch by Vulcan reliever Allan Phillips. In the next at-bat, Olsen hit a drive to right field to put the Hornets up 5-4.

The Hornets would add an insurance run in the sixth when Strombach drove in Reimer from third with a base hit to center. Reimer, who also tallied his team-high 20th steal in the contest, led off the inning with a triple to right center.

Rosebrock (2-1) earned the win after allowing no runs while scattering two hits in 3.1 innings of relief.

Daugherty (0-5) got the loss after giving up five runs (three earned) on three hits while walking two and striking out two in four innings of work.

Strombach finished 2-for-4 with a run and a team-high two RBI and Reimer went 2-for-3 with two runs to lead the Hornet offense.

Sacramento State will next face Arizona on Monday, April 28, at 11 a.m. at Hornet Field. The game was originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m., but was changed to accommodate travel plans by the Wildcats.

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