"I'm really proud of how we played this weekend," said head coach Reggie Christiansen after Sunday's doubleheader. "We had a tough first two games of the series and for us to stick with it and grind out a win in the second game today speaks volumes about these guys and their will to win. These young guys grew up this weekend."
With Sunday's game two tied, 1-1, in the top of the ninth inning, Moretto smashed his first home run
of the season, a solo shot down the line in left. The blast, which came against the Bruins' sophomore reliever Holden Powell, was Moretto's first of the year and put the Hornets ahead for good, 2-1.
Sacramento State scored the game's first run earlier in the afternoon on a Martin Vincelli-Simard RBI-single. With two outs, Matt Smith singled, stole second, and scored on the Vincelli-Simard knock.
A freshman, Vincelli-Simard leads the Hornets in nearly every offensive category early in the season. He is slashing .286/.324/.514 – all three team highs – with a team-leading two home runs and six RBIs.
Travis Adams got the start for the Hornets in Sunday's game two and was excellent. The freshman right-hander threw five innings, allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out six and, for the second straight start, did not walk a batter.
In two starts this season, Adams owns a 2.61 ERA and a 9:0 K:BB ratio.
The lone run allowed by Adams Sunday was a solo home run off the bat of UCLA's Ryan Kreidler in the fifth.
Senior reliever Tanner Dalton picked up the win in Sunday's game two, improving to 1-1 on the season. He took over for Adams in the sixth and finished out the game for Sacramento State, throwing four shutout innings.
Dalton allowed just two hits and two walks and struck out five in the outing. The four innings are the most he has thrown in a Hornets uniform.
The 2-1 win over No. 3 UCLA is Sacramento State's third over a top-five program under head coach Reggie Christiansen. The first came in 2014 when the Hornets defeated No. 4 Oregon State, 7-6, at Raley Field. The other was a 5-4 road win over No. 5 LSU in 2016.
Game one of Sunday's doubleheader went to the Bruins, 6-0. Despite the lopsided score, the game was much closer than it appears at first glance.
Sophomore right-hander Scott Randall (1-1) took the mound to start the game for the Hornets, throwing five innings of one run ball, but was charged with his first loss of the year. Austin Roberts followed with a scoreless frame before UCLA broke things open, scoring four runs – all unearned – in the seventh en route to the 6-0 win.
"Our pitchers were outstanding all series. We lost a tough one on Friday and we really just had the one bad inning in the first game of this doubleheader," added Christiansen after Sunday's second game.
In total, Hornets pitchers combined for a 1.44 ERA over the three-game series. They allowed just four earned runs over 25.0 innings.
With the doubleheader split on Sunday, Sacramento State improves to 4-6 overall this season. Their schedule continues with another road meeting on Tuesday at Saint Mary's.
More details – including notes, radio links, and more – are available online at HornetSports.com by visiting the 2019 Sacramento State baseball homepage.
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