BASEBALL FINISHES WITH SERIES SPLIT, FALLING IN 11 INNINGS TO SAN JOSE STATE, 5-4

5/2/2010

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Junior Trevor Paine hit his seventh home run of the season and also produced a two-run double, but the Sacramento State baseball team could not hold on to a 4-2 lead, falling in 11 innings to the host San Jose State Spartans by the score of 5-4.

With the loss, the Hornets fall to 16-24-1, 5-7 in Western Athletic Conference play, while the Spartans improved to 17-25, 5-7 inside of the WAC. The two teams finished the four-game set winning two matchups apiece.

San Jose State held a 2-0 lead after three innings, as Zach Jones and Karson Klauer hit one-out solo home runs in the bottom of the second and third innings respectively. The Hornets cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the fourth as Paine produced his own one-out solo shot to center field, his second of the series, to pull the Hornets within a run.

Sacramento State took the lead in the top of the fourth, as after freshman Blake Miller was hit by a pitch and junior Kirby Young walked, Paine drove them in with a two-run double to left-center, giving the Hornets a 3-2 advantage. The lead grew to 4-2 as, following a groundout that advanced Paine to third, senior Justin Mezzaneras connected on a sacrifice fly to center field, driving him home.

The lead held until the bottom of the seventh, as Jason Martin led off the inning by beating out an infield single to short, and Klauer drove him home with a RBI double to left-center. Two batters later, Alex Sofranac hit a blooper to shallow left field that would have normally been in an out, but the Hornets had the infield drawn in with Klauer on third, causing the ball to fall in for a hit and allowing the run to score to tie the game.

The score remained tied into extra innings, when the game would change in the bottom of the 10th. With Danny Stienstra at the plate, the Spartan popped up to the pitcher, junior Andrew Galvan, to record the second out. On his swing, however, Stienstra hit sophomore catcher Justin Lamb with his backswing, forcing the Hornets only true healthy catcher out of the game. This caused a series of changes, including senior Josh Powers moving behind the plate, Paine moving from designated hitter to first base, and forcing the pitchers spot to enter into the batting order.

With runners on first and second and two out in the top of the 11th, the pitchers spot came up and Galvan, who had not appeared at the plate in either his junior college or Hornet career, was forced to bat for himself. The Hornets dialed up a hit-and-run and Galvan drilled a 1-1 offering, but right at the second baseman Klauer to end the threat.

Klauer then ended the game with two down in the bottom of the 11th, hitting his second home run of the game to give the Spartans a 5-4 victory.

Jones (3-1) picked up the win in relief for San Jose State, after starting the game at shortstop, allowing no runs on two hits with five strikeouts in four innings of work. Galvan (1-3) picked up the loss, allowing just the one hit, the Klauer home run, in 1.2 innings of work. The junior reliever was on short rest, having picked up a 3.1 inning save in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.

Paine led the Hornets with a 2-for-5 day at the plate, driving in three of the four runs scored by Sacramento State. The Hornets got a lone hit apiece from freshman Andrew Ayers, junior Kyle Baskett, Miller and Powers. Klauer led the Spartans with a 3-for-5 day at the plater with three RBI and three runs scored, while Martin and Corey Valine added two hits apiece.

The Hornets are back in action on Tuesday, May 4 as they host California at Hornet Field. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.