Shea Lukes pitched a perfect 1-2-3 eighth inning to lower his ERA to a team-best 2.61.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento State baseball team could not slow down a potent Pacific offense and the Hornets lost, 8-2, to the Tigers on Tuesday afternoon at John Smith Field.
Sacramento State slides to 6-19 this season while Pacific improves to 7-14. Hornets' starter Hunter Greenwood (0-1) took the loss while Pacific starter Kyle Crawford (1-0) went two innings for the win. The Tigers had stated before the game that they planned to use five pitchers, allowing for Crawford to earn the win despite pitching less than five innings.
Pacific's heart of the lineup did the damage on Tuesday, as their Nos. 3-6 hitters drove in all seven earned runs and had nine of the Tigers' 13 hits.
Sacramento State had eight hits - including multi-hit games by Jake Chilton and Andrew Ayers - but could only muster two runs. Pacific used five pitchers in the game, with none allowing more than three hits individually.
The Hornets pushed across single runs in both the third and eighth innings.
With one out in the third, Eli Davis slapped a double to right field and moved to third on a wild pitch. Justin Higley's ground out in the next at-bat was enough to get Davis across home plate. In the eighth inning, A.J. Nunez reached on a throwing error by the third baseman and moved to second on Chilton's single. Ayers lined a sharp single up the middle to load the bases. Hunter Adrian's fielder's choice grounder brought Nunez home from third.
The Hornets had two runs on eight hits and one error while the Tigers had eight runs on 13 hits and two errors.
Sacramento State will play a pair of road series in the next two weekends. The Hornets will meet Seattle this weekend and then start Western Athletic Conference play next weekend with a trip to Hawai'i.
