April 2, 2018 Final Stats
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Saint Mary's baseball team responded early after falling behind Monday, and tried to do so again late, but host Sacramento State held on for a 10-4 non-conference win at John Smith Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Sacramento State (12-14) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with four straight base hits to start the inning. Saint Mary's (15-11) starter Andrew Hansen (1-2) struck out the side in the first - his first inning in his first career start. Two of the Hornets' four hits in the inning were infield hits.
- The Gaels responded with three runs in the next half inning to take a 3-2 lead. Joe Vranesh started the rally by leading off the top of the third with his third home run of the season, a solo shot over the center field wall. Matt Green followed with a double and would later score on Joey Fiske's game-tying RBI single. Brett Rasso scored on a wild pitch with two outs to give SMC the 3-2 advantage.
- But the Hornets responded and responded in a big way. They loaded the bases with no outs in their very next turn at bat and tied the game on a hit-by-pitch. Then with two outs, PJ Floyd hit a grand slam to right field, putting Sacramento State up 7-3.
- The Hornets would end up scoring runs in four straight innings from the second to the fifth, building up a seven-run lead at 10-3. Meanwhile, the Gaels went down 13 in a row and 14 of 15 from the fourth through eighth innings.
- The Gaels tried to put together a last-minute rally in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs. But Sacramento State brought Tanner Daulton to relieve and he got three straight outs, only giving up a sacrifice fly to Edward Haus.
NOTABLE NUMBERS - 1: Vranesh's solo home run broke a four-game homerless streak for the Gaels. Saint Mary's has not yet had a multi-home run game this season after having 10 in 2017.
- 3: Nathan Schneider made his second career appearance, throwing three shutout innings and striking out three. He finished the game for Saint Mary's, only allowing one hit.
- 10: Saint Mary's pitchers allowed 10 runs Monday, tying a season high from a week ago when they also allowed 10 in a non-conference game at UC Davis. SMC pitchers have only given up double-digit runs twice this season, and more than five runs only four times in 26 games.
COMING UP - The two-game non-conference home-and-home series concludes at Louis Guisto Field on Tuesday. Sacramento State right hander Scott Randall will face an SMC starter yet to be named. Tickets are available for purchase on SMCGaels.com or by calling the SMC Ticket Office at (925) 631-GoTx. Fans can find all live coverage links on SMCGaels.com.
