BASEBALL SPLITS DOUBLEHEADER WITH FIRST PLACE FRESNO STATE

5/17/2008

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Sacramento State baseball team split a doubleheader with first place Fresno State on Saturday, May 17 at Hornet Field. Sacramento State was victorious, 4-0, in game one, before dropping game two 6-4.

With the action on the day, the Hornets ran their record to 23-31, 14-16 in Western Athletic Conference play, while the Bulldogs moved to 32-27, 20-11 in the WAC.

In game one of the doubleheader, the Hornets struck first in the bottom of the third, as with one out and the bases loaded, junior Gabe Jacobo and senior Wes Oberlin hit back-to-back RBI singles, giving the Hornets a 2-0 advantage.

The Hornets then added to the lead in the fourth, as with two out, junior Hunter Martinez and senior Ryan Blair connected on back-to-back doubles, with Blair’s two-bagger scoring Martinez to push the lead to 3-0.

The final run of the contest came in the sixth inning, as senior Jeff Hannah hit a leadoff triple to start the inning, and was immediately driven home by a RBI single from junior Blake Crosby, making the lead 4-0.

The lead was all the Hornets would need, as five pitchers combined for Sacramento State’s first shutout of the season. Junior starter Brian Smith threw two innings of one hit baseball, striking out the first four batters of the game, and was followed by senior Alvaro Orozco, who allowed two hits in 2.1 innings of work. Freshman Trevor Paine (3-1) was next out of the ‘pen, scattering three hits over 2.2 innings to pick up the win. Following a walk and a hit by a pitch from sophomore Tommy Elrod, freshman Brandon Sandoval came into a save situation with the tying run on deck, not allowing a hit in the final two innings of play while striking out three. He picked up his second save of the season in the process.

Clayton Allison (1-5) went the entire way for the Bulldogs, allowing four runs on 10 hits while striking out seven in eight innings on the hill.

Game two was also a pitchers duel between Hornet junior Jose Ramirez and Holden Sprague. The Hornets got to Sprague first, in the bottom of the second, as with one out, sophomore Tim Wheeler reached on an error, and was driven home on a RBI double by Crosby, giving the Hornets a 1-0 lead. The score would grow to 2-0 in the third, as senior David Flores connected on a one out double, scoring Blair, who had singled earlier in the inning.

The fourth inning saw Fresno State claw back into the contest with a run of their own, as Alan Ahmady doubled home Gavin Hedstrom, who had singled to lead off the inning, cutting the lead to 2-1 Hornets. Sacramento State matched the score in the bottom of the inning, as Wheeler walked and senior Brian Boyd singled, giving the Hornets two runners on with no one out. Crosby then sacrificed Wheeler to third base with a bunt, setting up yesterday’s hero, freshman Brent Hottman, who singled to left field to give the Hornets a 3-1 lead.

The Hornets added another run in the bottom of the fifth, as Blair led off the inning with a bunt single, which was followed by the second double of the game and 26th of the season by Flores, giving the Hornets runners on second and third with no one out. Jacobo then hit a fly ball to deep center field that was tracked down at the wall by Hedstrom, but served as a sacrifice fly, scoring Blair to make the Hornet advantage three runs at 4-1.

The score would stay that way until there was one out in the top of the eighth, when the Bulldogs finally got to the Hornet lefty Ramirez. The Bulldogs recorded four straight hits, scoring a run on a single by Erik Wetzel and two runs on a RBI single by Steve Susdorf, to pull to tie the score at 4-4. Ramirez was then lifted, and later in the inning, Steve Detwiller doubled to left, scoring two more runs before being thrown out at third, giving Fresno State a 6-4 lead that they would hold for the remainder of the contest.

Jake Hower (2-1) picked up the win out of the Bulldog bullpen, allowing no runs on one hit and a walk in three innings of work. Brandon Burke pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his sixth save of the season. Ramirez (4-6) was saddled with the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits while striking out five batters.

Blair went 4-for-7 with three runs scored and a RBI on the day to pace the Hornets, while Flores went 3-for-6 at the plate, including 3-for-3 in game two with two doubles and a RBI. Ahmady went 3-for-7 with a run scored and a RBI, while Susdorf and Detwiller each had two RBI in game two.

The two teams will finish out the regular season on Sunday, May 18 at Hornet Field, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. The game will serve as senior day for the Hornets, and feature a pregame ceremony honoring 11 seniors playing their final home game.