SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento State baseball team will hit the road for a four-game Western Athletic Conference series at New Mexico State this weekend at Presley Askew Field.
The Hornets (15-31, 2-10 WAC) and the Aggies (27-13, 5-7 WAC) will play the first game of the series at 3:05 p.m. PT on Friday. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com, Fox Sports Arizona, Altitude Sports and Comcast SportsNet New Mexico.
The teams will play a Saturday doubleheader with first pitch at 2:05 p.m. PT and the series will conclude at 10:05 a.m. PT on Sunday.
For a full set of game notes, click on the link above.
SACRAMENTO STATE BREAKDOWN
Recently: The Hornets took 1-of-4 from San Jose State, despite holding SJSU to just 13 total runs.
All-Time Series: The Hornets are 22-24 all-time versus New Mexico State in Div. I era (1990+).
Notable: The Hornets are playing just their second road WAC series of the season. In the last, Sacramento State was swept at Hawai’i.
NEW MEXICO STATE BREAKDOWN
Recently: Took 3-of-4 from Seattle in a non-conference road series.
Notable: New Mexico State’s Tanner Waite leads the WAC with a .419 batting average. He has 52 hits this season. He also sports the No. 1 on-base percentage in the league at .545. Wesley Starkes leads the conference with 47 runs.
ONE TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND
In his last six relief appearances, Brandon Creel has allowed just four earned runs (five total). In 12.1 innings over that stretch, Creel has allowed 13 hits and tallied nine strikeouts.
AROUND THE WAC
Last weekend Sacramento State went 1-3 vs. San Jose State while New Mexico State took 3-of-4 in a non-conference road series at Seattle. In conference action, Louisiana Tech won three games in a four game series at home over Nevada. After Hawai’i took the first two games of the series, No. 16 ranked Fresno State rebounded to the win the final two and split the set. New Mexico State’s Bryan Karraker earned WAC Hitter of the Week while Louisiana Tech’s Caleb Dudley won the Pitcher of the Week honor. Karraker hit .636 (7-for-11) with seven runs scored and two RBI in the Aggies’ series at Seattle.
SANDOVAL’S TRANSITION TO STARTER
Senior RHP Brandon Sandoval recorded a seven-inning complete game shutout in a 2-0 victory over San Jose State on Saturday. Sandoval recorded four strikeouts to two walks and did not allow an extra base hit. With a pair of double plays behind him, Sandoval faced just two over the minimum in his best start of the season. Since making his first start of the season on April 3 at Seattle, Sandoval has a 1.97 ERA in 32 innings over five starts with four complete games. He has allowed just seven runs on 24 hits in that span.
DEL GRANDE, YOUNG IN WAC GAMES
In Sacramento State’s 12 conference games this season, David Del Grande leads the team with a .349 batting average while Kirby Young is behind him with a .295 BA. Young leads the team with five RBIs while Blake Miller is a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts. Del Grande has 15 hits in 43 at-bats, including a team-best three doubles.
SUCCESS IN DOUBLEHEADERS
Sacramento State has posted a 7-3 record in the opening games of doubleheaders. The Hornets are 2-1 in the openers of WAC doubleheaders and won their most recent, 2-0, over San Jose State. The Hornets also defeated then-No. 12 Fresno State in the opening game of their doubleheader.
HORNETS AGAINST NMSU PITCHERS
Last year Sacramento State faced Ryan Beck, Tyler Mack and Dan Reid. The Hornets had no runs on five hits in 23 at-bats against Beck. Blake Miller went 2-for-3 and Andrew Ayers also had a hit. Sacramento State posted two runs on eight htis in 23 at-bats versus Mack. Kirby Young went 1-for-2 with two walks and Miller went 1-for-2. Dan Reid had similar success vs. the Hornets, allowing just two runs on seven hits in 25 at-bats. Jake Chilton is the only current player that had a hit against Reid. He went 1-for-3 and grounded into a double play.
POSITION STARTERS IN FLUX
First-year head coach has been searching for his best group of position starters all season. Because of that, each position has been manned by many different players. In the most recent switch, Kirby Young has been getting starts in centerfield with Blake Miller taking over at shortstop. Miller started 19 games at third base before moving to short for the first time against San Jose State on April 29. He was back at third in the first game of the doubleheader but played the final two games at short. Will Soto has been taking advantage of the switch, playing at third.
