Will Soto is now the 11th player in the school history to tally five hits in a single game.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - The Sacramento State baseball team scored a combined 24 runs on 35 hits in a Western Athletic Conference doubleheader split with New Mexico State on Saturday at Presley Askew Field.
In game two, Will Soto, a freshman from Elk Grove, Calif., tallied five hits in six at-bats and became just the 11th player in school history to record five hits in a single game. Brandon Marshall had six hits in a game in 1998 and stands alone with the school record.
The Hornets' record now sits at 16-33 (3-12 WAC) on the season while the Aggies are 32-15 (7-8 WAC). All three of Sacramento State's conference wins have come in the opening game of doubleheaders with Brandon Sandoval on the mound.
Sandoval (3-2) earned win in game one while New Mexico State's Justin Cooper took the loss. In the second game, NMSU's Ryan Beck (9-3) earned the win with Hunter Greenwood suffering the loss.
The teams will meet in the final game of the series at 11 a.m. PT on Sunday.
Sacramento State 15, New Mexico State 8 (May 07, 2011 at Las Cruces, NM) (Game 1) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacramento State.... 102 143 4 - 15 17 1
New Mexico State.... 100 023 2 - 8 14 1 (0-15, 6-8 WAC)
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Pitchers: Sacramento State - Sandoval, Brandon; Creel, Brandon(6). New Mexico State -
Cooper, Justin; Montoya, Randy(5); Torsney, Timothy(5); Renteria, Gerardo(6); Roher, Robert(7);
Bevill, Riley(7).
Win-Sandoval, Brandon Loss-Cooper, Justin T-2:50 A-0
HR SAC - Miller, Blake (4); Del Grande, David (2).
Weather: Sunny
Torsney faced 1 batter in the 6th.
Roher faced 3 batters in the 7th.
GAME ONE RECAP: Sandoval entered the game with a sub-2.00 ERA in WAC starts but it was the offense that carrried the way in the first game, a seven inning starter to the twinbill.
Derrick Chung was a big reason why as the junior from Cypress, Calif., tied for No. 2 in single-game school history with five runs. He went 2-for-2 at the plate with three walks.
The Hornets banged out a season high 17 hits in the game, although they would eclipse that with 18 hits in game two. Blake Miller hit his team-best fourth home run while David Del Grande hit his second home. Del Grande hit the Hornets' first home run of the season versus UC Riverside on Feb. 27.
Sacramento State was up 4-1 heading into the top of the fifth inning, and that's when the fireworks started.
Chung singled to right center to lead off the inning and moved to second on Soto's sacrifice bunt. Kirby Young followed with a double down the right field line, which drove in Chung. Hunter Adrian then singled to right and advanced to second on a wild pitch, which brought home Young from third. Miller then followed with his two-run home run to left field. The Hornets had four runs on six hits in the inning and were just getting started.
In the sixth inning the Hornets tacked on three more runs, highlighted by Miller's RBI double and Young scoring on another wild pitch.
In the seventh inning Sacramento State scored four more runs to go up 15-6. Justin Higley led off with a walk and moved to second on A.J. Nunez's single through the left side. Chung then walked to load the bases. After a flyout, Higley was thrown out at the plate on Young's fielder's choice grounder. But with the bases still juiced, Adrian doubled on the first pitch of his at-bat to clear the bases. Miller singled to push Adrian ahead and Del Grande's RBI single brought him home.
The Hornets had nine players tally hits in the game. Young and Miller each had a team-high three hits. New Mexico State's Parker Hipp, who had the game-winning double in first game of the series, went 5-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.
New Mexico State 11, Sacramento State 9 (May 07, 2011 at Las Cruces, N.M.) (Game 2) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sacramento State.... 120 400 200 - 9 18 0 (16-33, 3-12 WAC)
New Mexico State.... 020 431 10X - 11 14 1 (32-15, 7-8 WAC)
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Pitchers: Sacramento State - Chamberlin, James; Lukes, Shea(4); Greenwood, Hunter(6);
Adrian, Hunter(7). New Mexico State - Beck, Ryan; Coffman, Scott(7).
Win-Beck, Ryan(9-3) Save-Coffman, Scott(9) Loss-Greenwood, Hunter(0-2) T-3:10 A-262
HR SAC - Young, Kirby (2).
HR NMSU - Fisher, Zac (6); Karraker, Bryan (4).
Weather: Mosty Sunny and Breezy
GAME TWO RECAP: Soto, hitting No. 2 in the lineup, had a season-high five hits to go with five RBIs but it wasn't enough as the Hornets lost 11-9 in the second game of the doubleheader. The Hornets had a season-high 18 hits in the game that also featured a four-hit performance by Brent Hottman.
The Hornets led 7-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning when New Mexico State scored four runs that started a nine-run spurt over the next four innings.
Soto had his first two RBIs of the game on a single that scored both Hottman and Carter Loud in the second inning. Soto was back at it in the fourth, with an RBI single that was the second of four Sacramento State runs in the inning.
New Mexico State followed with four runs in the bottom of the fourth, three more in the fifth and single runs in the sixth and seventh.
Soto claimed two more RBIs in the top of the seventh, when he hit a bases-loaded single to center that once again scored Hottman and Loud.
Sacramento State used four pitchers in the game. James Chamberlin made the start while Shea Lukes, Greenwood and Adrian all made relief appearances. Beck started for the Aggies and Scott Coffman came in for the 2.1 inning save - his ninth of the season.
