MESA, Ariz. – Josh WalkerSecond RBI of the day – a single single to score Nick Iwasa from second base – broke two draws all in the fourth and Sacramento State kept pulling away, avenging the opening day loss to UT Rio Grande Valley with a 9-5 win to knock out Vaqueros to open third day of the Western Athletics Conference. Tournament on Friday morning at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.
The Hornets improved to 32-25 overall and advanced to face West Division undefeated New Mexico State late in the day at 4 p.m. Sacramento State, which has hosted two of three regular meetings in season with the Aggies earlier this year, it will be necessary to beat NMSU twice to book a trip to the league title game on Saturday night (May 27).
UTRGV ended its season with an overall scoreline of 33-25 with a loss, leaving it with a pair of runs in the ninth round before running out of breath.
Eight of the nine Hornet starters finished with the hits of the day, led by juniors Martin Vincelli-Simardwho finished 3 to 5 with a scored run, a brace and a pair of RBIs, to record his eighth most run in five – seven of which have come since May 8. Walker was one of the top three Sacramento State with two hits of the day, joining the multi-hit club of Jeffery Heard and Josh Rollingit all ends a 2-for-4 day at the plate.
Second person on the right Noah Takacs solid in the first start of the tournament, allowing a pair to run with three hits above 4.1 before making room for Max Petty (4-1) in the fifth inning, the person is counted with a run on two hits and an attack pair in over 2.2 turns relieved. Kevin Haynes end the competition, allow two runs with four hits in the last two innings, defeating the last hitter of the game by a double to advance his team.
An RBI single performed by Walker and Rolling in the second inning sent the Hornets to the top – the third time in so many league games that Sacramento State has moved above the first scoreboard. UTRGV tied everything together with single runs in the third and fourth innings, but Hornet regrouped in the second half’s home half to take the lead.
Iwasa’s brace with a second appearance put Walker ahead, who promptly crossed a ball into the middle for Iwasa to easily score to make it 3-2. The two hit then, Jorge Bojorquez rolled a single over the right, giving Sacramento State a two-legged lead as Walker scored from second after winning another 90 feet on his single.
A Vincelli-Simard one-out brace in the fifth inning set the stage for two more runs like Steven Moretto scored to make it 5-2 in the middle, and a Heard strike sent a run into the corners for Iwasa.
Vaqueros completed a comeback run in game six, but Moretto’s 12th sacrifice fly of the year in game seven regained the score and Sacramento State scored two more in game eight on Vincelli’s singles. -Simard veered off center from a UTRGV slide for a 9-3 advantage.
Drama unfolds in season nine as Vaqueros makes one final rally, scoring in a Jacob Hirsh home run and a Brandon Pimentel single, but Haynes stops the bleeding quickly with a strike from Brett Cain with a lanyard on the deck to end the game. Cain drove home in the first leg with a brace in the eighth inning of the league opener that won UTRGV, 2-1, back on Wednesday.
With his two hits, Heard scored the 15th most games of the season, placing third on the team behind Bojorquez (18) and Dawsen Bacho (16), while Rolling’s two-hit day is his 11th most hit performance of the year 2022. With his two RBIs, Moretto raked in his eighth multi-RBI game, followed by the game. played seventh of the year from Vincelli-Simard and third by Walker.
