SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Junior Warren Rosebrock tallied his second-consecutive complete game while freshman Billy Sinacori hit his first-collegiate home run to lead the Sacramento State baseball team to a 6-1 win over Pacific, Sunday afternoon at Hornet Field. The win gave the Hornets a four-game sweep over the Tigers. It marked the first time Sacramento State has recorded a season sweep over Pacific since going 1-0 in 1996.Sacramento State is now 19-15 on the year while Pacific dropped to 14-13.
Pacific took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Aaron Harper hit his first home run of the season over the center-field wall. The Tigers still threatened with runners on second and third with one out but Rosebrock got Isaiah Lilly to ground back to the mound and Octavio Amezquita to ground out to third to end the inning.
The Hornets evened the score (1-1) in the bottom of the first when junior Bret LeVier drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Senior Jack Arroyo led off the inning with a single to center and then advanced to third after a base hit to center by junior Brett Flowers and junior Pedro Santiago was hit by a pitch. LeVier followed with a grounder to third to score Arroyo from third.
Sacramento State took at 4-1 lead in the fourth when Sinacori hit a three-run homer to left field. With one out, junior Matt Wilson reached on a fielding error by Jesse Kovacs at third. After junior Andy Hnilo singled to left field, Sinacori hit a hanging curve ball by Tim Didjurgis over the left-field wall for his first homer of the season. Sinacori started at third base for senior John Acha, who sat out the contest with a bruised finger.
The Hornets added two more runs in the fifth after an RBI single by Santiago and an RBI fielder’s choice by Hnilo. Junior Craig Johnson led off the inning with a single to right before Flowers followed with a single to center. With the runners moving, Santiago poked a ball down the right-field line to score Johnson from second. After a walk to LeVier loaded the bases with one out, Hnilo grounded a ball to short to score Flowers from third.
It was more than enough for Rosebrock (4-3), who earned his second-career complete game after allowing only one run on six hits while walking one and striking out three. He joins junior Ethan Katz with two complete games on the year. The Citrus Heights, Calif., native also lowered his ERA from 4.35 to 3.84.
Didjurgis (0-4) was tagged with the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on five hits in one inning of relief. Tiger starter Alex Graham left the contest in the third inning due to an arm injury.
Flowers led the Hornet offense with two hits (2-for-4) while Sinacori drove in a team and season-high three RBI.
Sacramento State will next host Nevada at Hornet Field on Tuesday, Mar. 30, at 2 p.m. The game was rescheduled from Mar. 2 due to road conditions in the Sierras.
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