# Sacramento State Hornets baseball

The Sacramento State Hornets baseball team represents California State University, Sacramento, which is located in Sacramento, California. The Hornets are an NCAA Division I college baseball program that competes in the Western Athletic Conference. They began competing in Division I in 1990 and re-joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2006. They were a part of the Big West Conference from 1997 to 2002.
The Sacramento State Hornets play all home games on campus at John Smith Field. The Hornets have played in three NCAA Division I Tournaments. Over their 19 discontinuous seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, they have won two WAC regular season titles and three WAC Tournaments.
Since the program's inception in 1949, six Hornets have gone on to play in Major League Baseball, including Philadelphia Phillies first baseman and outfielder Rhys Hoskins. Under head coach Reggie Christiansen, 22 Hornets have been drafted, including Rhys Hoskins who was selected in the fifth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft.

## Conference membership history

* 1990–1992: Independent
* 1993–1996: Western Athletic Conference
* 1997–2002: Big West Conference
* 2003–2005: Independent
* 2006–present: Western Athletic Conference

## John Smith Field

John Smith Field is a baseball stadium on the California State University, Sacramento campus in Sacramento, California that seats 1,200 people. It opened in 1953 and was known as Hornet Stadium. In 2010, it was named in honor of longtime coach John Smith.

## Head coaches (Division I only)

Records taken from the Sac State coaching history.
| Season | Coach | Years | Record | Pct. |
| 1990–2010 | John Smith | 21 | 526–673–2 | .439 |
| 2011–present | Reggie Christiansen | 14 | 426–362 | .541 |
| Totals | 2 coaches | 35 seasons | 952–1035–2 | .479 |

## Year-by-year NCAA Division I results

Records taken from the Sac State year-by-year results.
Statistics overview :
| Season | Coach | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason |
| Independent (1990–1992) ||||||
| 1990 | John Smith | 34–25 | | | |
| 1991 | John Smith | 41–23 | | | |
| 1992 | John Smith | 32–25 | | | |
| Western Athletic Conference (1993–1996) ||||||
| 1993 | John Smith | 36–22 | 13–11 | T-5th | |
| 1994 | John Smith | 27–29 | 10–14 | 7th | |
| 1995 | John Smith | 28–26 | 16–13 | 4th | |
| 1996 | John Smith | 12–43 | 3–27 | 12th | |
| Big West Conference (1997–2002) ||||||
| 1997 | John Smith | 16–39 | 8–22 | T-7th | |
| 1998 | John Smith | 25–35 | 13–17 | 4th | Big West tournament |
| 1999 | John Smith | 18–39 | 8–22 | 7th | |
| 2000 | John Smith | 23–33 | 15–15 | 6th | |
| 2001 | John Smith | 24–35 | 4–14 | 7th | |
| 2002 | John Smith | 22–34 | 4–20 | 9th | |
| Independent (2003–2005) ||||||
| 2003 | John Smith | 33–24 | | | |
| 2004 | John Smith | 29–32 | | | |
| 2005 | John Smith | 20–36–1 | | | |
| Western Athletic Conference (2006–present) ||||||
| 2006 | John Smith | 20–37 | 8–16 | 6th | WAC Tournament |
| 2007 | John Smith | 17–40 | 10–14 | 6th | WAC Tournament |
| 2008 | John Smith | 24–34 | 14–17 | 6th | WAC Tournament |
| 2009 | John Smith | 27–27 | 8–14 | 7th | |
| 2010 | John Smith | 18–35–1 | 7–17 | 7th | |
| 2011 | Reggie Christiansen | 19–39 | 6–18 | 7th | |
| 2012 | Reggie Christiansen | 31–28 | 11–7 | T-1st | WAC tournament |
| 2013 | Reggie Christiansen | 34–25 | 14–13 | 5th | WAC tournament |
| 2014 | Reggie Christiansen | 40–24 | 21–6 | 1st | San Luis Obispo Regional |
| 2015 | Reggie Christiansen | 33–27 | 16–11 | T-4th | WAC tournament |
| 2016 | Reggie Christiansen | 30–28 | 16–11 | 4th | WAC tournament |
| 2017 | Reggie Christiansen | 32–29 | 12–12 | 4th | Stanford Regional |
| 2018 | Reggie Christiansen | 35–25 | 17–7 | T-2nd | WAC tournament |
| 2019 | Reggie Christiansen | 40–25 | 18–9 | T-4th | Stanford Regional |
| 2020 | Reggie Christiansen | 9–7 | | | Season cancelled on March 18 due to Coronavirus pandemic |
| Total: | Total: | 829–930–2 | | | |
| National champion   Postseason invitational champion   Conference regular season champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion  Division regular season champion  Division regular season and conference tournament champion  Conference tournament champion ||||||

## NCAA Division I Tournament history

* The NCAA Division I baseball tournament started in 1947.
* The format of the tournament has changed through the years.
* Sacramento State began playing Division I baseball in 1990.
| Year | Record | Pct | Notes |
| 2014 | 1–2 | .333 | Eliminated by Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo Regional |
| 2017 | 0–2 | .000 | Eliminated by BYU in Stanford Regional |
| 2019 | 1–2 | .333 | Eliminated by Stanford in Stanford Regional |
| Totals | 2–6 | .250 | |

## Awards and honors (Division I only)

* Over their 31 seasons in Division I, two Hornets have been named to an NCAA-recognized All-America team.
* Over their 19 discontinuous seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, 8 different Hornets have been named to the all-conference first-team.
* Over their 6 seasons in the Big West Conference, one Hornet was named to the all-conference first-team.

### All-Americans

| Year | Position | Name | Team | Selector |
| 2009 | OF | Tim Wheeler | 2nd | BA |
| 2014 | 1B | Rhys Hoskins | 3rd | CB |

### Freshman First-Team All-Americans

| Year | Position | Name | Selector |
| 2009 | SP | Jesse Darrah | CB |
| 2012 | OF | Rhys Hoskins | NCBWA |
| 2013 | DH | Chris Lewis | CB |
| 2013 | RP | Sutter McLoughlin | BA |
| 2013 | RP | Sutter McLoughlin | CB |
| 2013 | RP | Sutter McLoughlin | NCBWA |
| 2014 | SP | Sam Long | CB |
| 2017 | SP | Parker Brahms | CB |
| 2018 | SP | Scott Randall | CB |

### Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year

| Year | Name |
| 2012 | Reggie Christiansen |
| 2014 | Reggie Christiansen |

### Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year

| Year | Position | Name |
| 1995 | P | Mike Eby |
| 2012 | 2B | Andrew Ayers |
| 2014 | 1B | Rhys Hoskins |

### Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year

| Year | Position | Name |
| 2012 | OF | Rhys Hoskins |
| 2013 | DH | Chris Lewis |
| 2014 | P | Sam Long |
| 2017 | P | Parker Brahms |
Taken from the Sac State awards and honors page. Updated March 21, 2020.

## Hornets in the Major Leagues

| = All-Star | = Baseball Hall of Famer |
| Athlete | Years in MLB | MLB Teams |
| La Schelle Tarver | 1986 | Boston Red Sox |
| Keith Brown | 1988, 1990–1992 | Cincinnati Reds |
| Gary Wilson | 1995 | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Erik Bennett | 1995–1996 | California Angels, Minnesota Twins |
| Roland de la Maza | 1997 | Kansas City Royals |
| Rhys Hoskins | 2017–present | Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers |
| Sam Long | 2021-present | San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals |
| James Outman | 2022–present | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Nathan Lukes | 2023–present | Toronto Blue Jays |
Taken from the Sac State Hornets in the Pros page.