Seattle University could not produce enough offense to keep up with Sacramento State, as the Hornets opened the Western Athletic Conference weekend baseball series with an 8-1 victory over the Redhawks Friday afternoon at John Smith Field.
With one out in the top of the first inning, Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.) drew a walk. He would advance to second base on a groundout and come around to score on a single up the middle by Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.).
Nathan Lukes led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single, advanced to second on a single by David Del Grande, and came around to score on a single up the middle hit by Will Soto. Sacramento State pulled ahead in the second inning as Scotty Burcham reached on an error and Brandon Hunley followed with a two-run home run to left field. Lukes doubled, advanced to third on a single by Kyle Moses, and came on to score when Del Grande reached base on a fielder’s choice.
Sacramento State (18-11, 7-0 WAC) added another run in the bottom of the third inning when Soto led off with a single, advanced to second base on a walk drawn by Chris Lewis, reached third on a flyout, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Dane Fujinaka. In the sixth inning, Lukes drew a one-out walk, advanced to third on a double hit by Moses, and scored when Del Grande hit a single into left field. Rhys Hoskins drove in both Moses and Del Grande with a double to center field, extending the Hornet lead to 8-1.
Mac Acker (Redmond, Wash.) took the loss for the Redhawks, allowing seven hits and five runs, three of them earned, in three innings of work. Brennan Leitao picked up the victory for the Hornets, giving up seven hits and one run in seven innings on the mound while striking out four batters.
Cullen Hendrickson (Auburn, Wash.), Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.), and Grant Newton (Bend, Ore.) each went 2-for-4 to lead the Redhawk offense, which put together nine hits but left eight runners on base. Each of the first five hitters in the Sacramento State lineup as well as Hunley in the ninth batting spot collected two hits during the game.
Seattle University (11-13, 3-1 WAC) continues its series at Sacramento State Saturday, April 5, at 2 p.m. Links to live stats and live audio available on the baseball schedule page of GoSeattleU.com.