HOSKINS' GRAND SLAM AND SOLO HOME RUN NOT ENOUGH IN LOSS AT PACIFIC
2/29/2012
Rhys Hoskins hit two home runs - one a grand slam - but the Hornets lost at Pacific.
STOCKTON, Calif. - Freshman Rhys Hoskins went 4-for-5 with a grand slam and a solo shot, but the Sacramento State baseball team lost, 13-10, against Pacific on Tuesday night at Klein Family Field.
The Hornets (4-4) scored 10 runs on 14 hits with no errors while the Tigers (1-8) won their first game of the season after tallying 13 runs on 18 hits with two errors.
Hoskins' grand slam was the 28th in Sacramento State's Div. I baseball history (1992+) and the three combined home runs by Hoskins and Andrew Ayers were the most by the Hornets since they smacked four in a game at Fresno State on May 21, 2010.
Pacific lost three game series to No. 22 Cal and San Diego plus single games to No. 1 ranked Stanford and No. 19 Oregon State before exploding on Tuesday. The Tigers jumped out early, scoring four runs on five consecutive hits in the first inning. Hoskins put the Hornets on the board with a solo blast to left with two outs in the second inning but Pacific tacked on two more in the third.
Pacific led, 6-1, heading into a wild sixth inning.
Sacramento State started the sixth with Derrick Chung and Will Soto hitting back-to-back singles. After a flyout, David Del Drande drew an eight-pitch walk to load the bases and bring Hoskins to the plate. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound true freshman crushed an 0-2 pitch over the left field fence to bring the Hornets within one run.
The Tigers undid all the damage by scoring four runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth to put their lead right back at five, 10-5, heading into the seventh inning.
The Hornets scored one in the seventh but, once again, Pacific posted a crooked number with three runs in the bottom of the inning. But still, Sacramento State was not out of it.
With one out in the eighth, Justin Higley blasted a pinch-hit triple to right and scored on Ayers' home run to left. (All four home runs in the game were hit to left). Chung singled after the long ball by Ayers and scored on Soto's double to right. Soto scored the final run of the inning after a fielding error on Trevor Paine's grounder to short.
Hoskins led off the ninth inning with his fourth hit of the game. Two batters later, the Hornets had the tying run at the plate with runners at first and second and one out, but Pacific turned a double play to end the game.
In addition to Hoskins' prodigious night at the plate, Soto went 3-for-5 with three runs after hitting a walk-off, three-run home run to beat Seattle on Sunday afternoon. The Hornets had nine players with at least one hit and six with at least one run.
Pacific designated hitter Taylor Murphy went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs while second baseman Riley Drongesen had a team-high three RBIs. The Tigers had five players with two-or-more RBIs.
Up next for the Hornets is a three-game series against No. 24 ranked UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins defeated Long Beach State, 9-1, on Tuesday night.
