Nevada

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Nevada

4/6/2026 | 6 PM


Apr. 06 (Mon) / 6 PM


 Nevada

History

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Junior Erick Dessens finished 5-for-5 with two runs scored and five RBI while senior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero added three hits and drove in four more runs as the Sacramento State baseball team withstood a late-inning Utah Tech rally and hung on for a 13-11 win in the series finale on Saturday afternoon.

Dessens, who reached base six times total in the game including an intentional walk in the third, became the first Hornet to collect five hits in a game and finish 5-for-5 since Gunner Gouldsmith did so against Stephen F. Austin on May 11, 2024, while becoming the fourth player to drive in five runs in a game this season along with teammates Jakob Poturnak (Feb. 20 vs. Saint Joseph’s), Cameron Sewell (March 7 at No. 2 LSU), and Brett Ott (March 15 vs. Pacific).

Saturday’s five hits — singles in the first, fifth, sixth, and ninth innings along with a second-inning home run — were a Sacramento State career high for Dessens and his team-best 14th multi-hit game of the year, surpassing his pair of four-hit games against Pacific (March 14) and Kansas (March 25) earlier this year. 

Meanwhile, Pimentel-Guerrero notched his 10th multi-hit game of the season and his fifth with at least three hits, while tying his career high with the four runs driven in. 

Senior Jace Jeremiah also added three hits to tie his Sacramento State career high, while Sam Harry, Ryan Ellis, and Ott collected two hits apiece. Harry’s two hits included a single to lead-off the game, which extended the freshman’s hitting streak to 11 consecutive games — the third-longest by a Hornet this year behind 12-game streaks from both Dessens and Jakob Poturnak.

Sacramento State scored early and often off Trailblazer starter Brandon Kosel, putting up a single run in the first, six more in the second, and another in the third to jump out to an 8-0 lead. 

Pimentel-Guerrero got the scoring started with a bases-loaded RBI single in the first inning before the Hornets busted it open in the second, getting a two-run double from Ryan Ellis, a two-run home run by Dessens (his eighth of the year), and a solo home run from Sewell (his second).

A wild pitch plated Ott with the third-inning run before Utah Tech was able to break up the shutout with two in the home half to make it 8-2.

Two innings later, Pimentel-Guerrero got those two runs back, slugging his second home run of the year in the fifth and Dessens plated his final two RBI with a sharp single to right in the sixth for what was thought to be an insurmountable 12-2 advantage. 

The homestanding Trailblazers, however, responded with two runs in the sixth and added two more in the eighth to halve the Hornets advantage, but a rally was still brewing.

After Pimentel-Guerrero added a third run-scoring single in the ninth, Utah Tech made it more than interesting in its final at-bats.

An RBI double following a lead-off walk plated the first of five runs in the inning that featured three more run-scoring hits, an error on a potential game-ending ground ball, and a bases-loaded walk that had the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first. 

Senior right-hander Colin Hunter, however, wriggled off the hook, inducing a game-ending fly ball to center to end the rally and send the Hornets home winners.

Ellis added two walks and the two RBI to his 2-for-3 day, while Ott scored three times and was on base four times as he walked twice in addition to his two hits.

With Sunday off due to the Easter holiday, Sacramento State begins a busy five-game week at home on Monday (April 6) with a 6 p.m. first pitch against Nevada, followed by a 6 p.m. start on Tuesday (April 7) against Fresno State.

The Hornets then return to Western Athletic Conference play with a three-game series against Utah Valley on April 10-12 at John Smith Field.