BASEBALL COMPLETES SEASON SWEEP OF PACIFIC WITH 5-2 ROAD WIN

Athletics News

Apr 25, 2017

STOCKTON, Calif. – Kody Reynolds homered for the fourth time in the last six games, Vinny Esposito was 3-for-5 and finished a home run shy of the hitting for the cycle, and Austin Roberts did not allow an earned run over five innings as Sacramento State recorded a 5-2 win over Pacific on Tuesday night in Stockton.

Paired with a 9-1 home win over the Tigers in March, Sacramento State (21-20) swept its season series with Pacific (13-25). The Tigers entered the game with a 12-7 home record this season but lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games.

Reynolds was 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs on Tuesday and has hit .360 with four home runs and seven RBIs in the last week. Esposito has also driven in seven runs in the last six games while hitting .440. On Tuesday he had a triple in the first inning, a single in the sixth, and an RBI double in the seventh and hit with two away in the top of the ninth but flew out to right field.

Roberts picked up his second win of the season and the team is now 6-3 in the nine games he has started. The freshman allowed just one unearned run over five innings, allowing four hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Ty Fox, Austin Root, and Chad Perry followed with scoreless innings and Justin Dillon allowed a run but struck out the side in the ninth in a relief appearance.

Esposito and Reynolds got the scoring started in the first inning when the former hit a two-out triple and the later drove him in with an infield single. Reynolds made it a 2-0 Hornet lead with a solo homer leading off the fourth.

Pacific got a run in the bottom of the fourth as a passed ball enabled Ryan Schalch to score from third on a groundout. Both teams put runners on the corners in the sixth inning, with Pacific doing so before recording an out, but neither team scored.

In the seventh inning Andrew McWilliam hit a leadoff single and scored from second on a Pacific throwing error. Ian Dawkins reached on the error then stole third and scored on another Tiger throwing error. After James Outman drew a walk Esposito doubled him home with a fly ball off the wall in left to make the score 5-1.

Pacific, which tallied eight hits and three errors, scored one on a pair of singles in the bottom of the ninth but nothing more. Starter Justin Giovannoni had a solid outing but took the loss, allowing two runs on six hits with three strikeouts over five innings.

The Hornets are back home for a WAC series this weekend against CSU Bakersfield. Game times are 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon Sunday at John Smith Field.

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