SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Sophomore Chris Kinsey hit three home runs and freshman Everet Rincon added five hits to lead the Sacramento State baseball team to an 18-3 win at Cal Poly Saturday night. The win follows a 12-4 loss to the Mustangs on Friday. The third and final game of the three-game set was rained out on Sunday.The split improved the Hornets’ record to 12-9. Cal Poly became 13-17-1.
Saturday, Kinsey hit three-run home runs in the first and sixth innings and added a two-run shot in the eighth to raise his season total to 11. On the night, the Elk Grove, Calif., native drove in eight runs and was 4-for-5 with four runs scored. The three homers set the Sacramento State single-game record.
Rincon led off the game by reaching on an error. He then collected five hits in his next five trips to the plate to become just the 12th player in school history to record five hits in a game. He also scored four runs.
As a team, the Hornets tallied 18 hits and took advantage of four Cal Poly errors. Joining Kinsey (four) and Rincon with multiple hits were Ryan Brown (two) and Bret LeVier (two). Sacramento State scored three runs in the first and added four more in the second to take a 7-1 lead. The team stretched the lead to 10-1 before the Mustangs were able to score a run in the bottom of the fourth. After Cal Poly made the score 10-3 in the fifth inning, the Hornets scored three runs in the sixth and five in the eighth.
Junior Danny Gill and freshman Matt Wilson also homered for the team as Sacramento State pounded out five home runs and 36 total bases.
Sophomore Marshall Plouffe evened his record at 2-2 with the win. Plouffe threw 7.0 innings and allowed nine hits and three runs (two earned). Warren Rosebrock and Dusty Decker each tossed an inning to close the game.
Friday’s night game was all Cal Poly. The Mustangs capitalized on five Hornet errors to cruise to a 12-4 win. The Hornets jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first before giving up four unearned runs in the bottom of the inning. Cal Poly scored four more runs in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach.
Senior Kevin Marzion suffered another hard-luck defeat. Marzion lasted just four innings and gave up eight runs, seven of which were unearned.
Joe Evans was the only Sacramento State player with two hits. Evans continued his hot play by going 2-for-4 and hitting his sixth home run.
The Hornets return home on Saturday against Stony Brook. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. befor a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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