BASEBALL FALLS TO FRESNO STATE IN WAC TOURNAMENT, REMATCH AT NOON ON SUNDAY

5/27/2012

Brent Hottman went 3-for-5 but the Hornets lost to Fresno State.

MESA, Ariz. – The Sacramento State baseball team came up short in its first attempt at a Western Athletic Conference Tournament title, losing 9-6 to Fresno State on Saturday night, but will have another chance at noon on Sunday in a winner-take-all game against the Bulldogs at Hohokam Park.

The WAC Tournament is a double elimination format and Saturday’s loss was the Hornets’ first in the tournament. Fresno State came into the game with one loss, after losing to the Hornets, 8-3, on Friday night in the semifinals. The Bulldogs defeated Louisiana Tech earlier on Saturday to meet the Hornets for a second time. The two teams will play for a third time in the tournament tomorrow and the game will be the sixth meeting between the Bulldogs and Hornets out of Sacramento State's 11 all-time WAC Tournament contests.

Sacramento State (31-27) scored six runs on 13 hits with two errors while Fresno State (29-26) tallied nine runs on nine hits with four errors. It wasn’t about the hits for the Bulldogs on Saturday, however, as Sacramento State pitchers issued 10 walks to Fresno State hitters.

The offense was strong once again against Fresno State, as it has been in every game this tournament. The Hornets have compiled a whopping 47 hits in three games with a .388 team batting average. Senior Brent Hottman had another outstanding game, going 3-for-5 to pace the Hornets. Hottman is hitting a team-best .667 in the tournament (6-for-9) with two doubles, three runs scores and three RBIs. Senior Trevor Paine and freshman Rhys Hoskins had two hits each.

The Hornets' pitching kept the Bulldogs off the board through the first three innings, but it wasn’t easy.

Starting pitcher Tanner Mendonca put the Hornets into a jam in the second inning but got them out just the same. After walking two batters and hitting a third to load the bases with no outs, Mendonca recorded two strikeouts and a ground out to keep Fresno State off the board early.

Sacramento State scored the first run of the game on senior Brent Hottman’s RBI double down the left field line in the second inning. Sophomore Will Soto scored on the play after reaching on a fielder’s choice and moving to second on a wild pitch.

A balk helped the Hornets again in the third inning. Senior Trevor Paine singled and moved to second on a balk before freshman Rhys Hoskins drove him in with a single to left center. The throw home nearly beat Paine, but his slide beat the tag. The unconventional scoring continued in the third, as Hoskins came home from third on a wild pitch ball four to sophomore David Del Grande.

Fresno State got on the board with a single run in the top of the fourth on a two-out RBI double down the left field line by Jordan Brink. Brink drove in another run in the fifth on his second RBI double, this time to left center.

Fresno State tied the game up at 3-3 in the sixth but the Hornets answered with two in the bottom of the inning on junior Andrew Ayers’ sacrifice fly and Paine’s single.

The Bulldogs took the lead, 7-5, after scoring four runs on just two hits in the seventh inning. Sacramento State walked in three of the four runs and issued five straight walks in the inning. The Hornets had the bases loaded in the bottom half of the inning, but Fresno State forced a double play to get out of the frame unscathed.

Fresno State added two more runs in the eighth and held on from there.

Fresno State 9, Sacramento State 6 (May 26, 2012 at Mesa, Ariz.)
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Fresno State........     000 111 420  -  9  9  4      (29-26)
Sacramento State.... 012 002 001  -  6 13  2      (31-27)
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Pitchers: Fresno State - Mundell,Garrett; Escat,Gene(6) and . Sacramento State -
Mendonca, Tanner; Greenwood, Hunter(5); Hoelzen, Tyler(7); Creel, Brandon(7); Nichols, Ty(7);
Morgan, Zach(8) and .
Win-Escat,Gene(3-0)  Loss-Hoelzen, Tyler(3-2)  T-3:20  A-668
Weather: 79F, W to CF at 7-10 MPH
Game: 12WAC10