BASEBALL EXPLODES FOR 30 RUNS, 33 HITS IN DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP OF MENLO
3/28/2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Junior Tim Wheeler and freshman Justin Lamb each drove in eight runs, and senior Hunter Martinez went 8-for-9 on the day, leading the Sacramento State baseball team to 15-3 and 15-6 seven inning victories over Menlo College on Saturday, March 28 at Hornet Field.
With the pair of wins, the Hornets improve to 14-9, and have now won 13 of their last 15 contests. The Oaks fall to 10-12 on the season.
In game one, the Oaks took an early 2-0 lead, as in the top of the first, Ricky Grech hit a two-run homer to left field. The Hornets cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Lamb, before taking the lead in the bottom of the third, 4-2, on a three-run home run by Wheeler, his seventh of the season.
After Menlo pulled to within one at 4-3 in the top of the fourth, the Hornets put the game away in the bottom half of the inning, as junior Josh Powers hit a two-run double to left, freshman Aaron Crouch connected on a sacrifice fly and Powers and senior Jeff Roth executed a double steal that allowed Powers to steal home, making the score 8-3.
The Hornets then scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth, forcing the 10-run rule to be implemented following the top of the seventh. Powers hit an RBI double to start the scoring, which was followed by a RBI double by Crouch, a two-run homer by Lamb, Wheeler being hit by a pitch for a RBI, and a two-run single by senior Blake Crosby, which pushed the lead to the final margin of 15-3.
Freshman Jesse Darrah improved his record to 4-2, picking up the win for the Hornets. He allowed three runs on six hits in six innings of work, striking out six without allowing a walk.
In game two, Menlo again started with the lead, as Shane Parsons hit a solo home run in the top of the first to give the Oaks a 1-0 lead. Sacramento State tied the score in the bottom of the first on a RBI fielders choice groundout by Wheeler, and took the lead in the third on a RBI double by Wheeler and a RBI single by Crosby in the bottom of the third, making the score 3-1.
Menlo took their second lead of the game in the top of the fourth, plating five runs to make the score 6-3 in favor of the Oaks. Chris Mazza opened the scoring with a RBI single, with Joel Hull providing a two-run single, Parsons scratching a RBI single and Nick von Sonn producing one of his own later in the inning.
The Hornets came right back in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score at 6-6, as sophomore Brent Hottman hit a solo home run, and Wheeler followed with a two-run home run to right field later in the inning.
Sacramento State then closed the game out with nine unanswered runs, including three in the fifth and six in the sixth. In the bottom of the fifth, Crouch knocked in a run with a double down the right field line, and Lamb followed with a two-run homer. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, Crouch struck again with a two-run single to right, and Lamb connected on his third home run of the day and second of the game to deep left center off of the parking structure. Martinez then hit his second home run of the season to right field, finishing the scoring at a 15-6 advantage for the Hornets.
Hornet starter, senior Nick Buchta, allowed six runs, four earned, on 10 hits in four innings, before giving way to sophomore Chris Baek (3-2), who allowed no runs on just one hit over the final three frames to pick up his third win. Matt Simpson (3-4) picked up the loss for the Oaks, allowing eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits in 4.1 innings of work.
Martinez went 5-for-5 in game one, and reached base safely two more times in game two before being retired for the first time. He finished the day 8-for-9 with seven singles, a home run, a RBI and six runs scored, and became the 19th player in school history to record five hits in a single game..
Lamb ran his home run total on the season to six with three home runs on the day. He finished 4-for-7 with eight RBI, while Wheeler also went 4-for-7 with two homers, eight RBI and five runs scored. Wheeler now has 106 career RBI, which moves him into fifth place in school history. Crouch went 5-for-7 with five RBI, while Powers went 5-for-8 with three RBI and five runs scored.
The two teams will close out the four-game series with a doubleheader on Sunday, March 29 at 11 a.m.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Junior 
