Getting hit by a pitch is either a blessing or a curse. Sure, you get to walk to first base, but at the cost of the searing pain that comes with getting beaned by a 90 mph fastball. Well, depending on how you look at it, Sacramento State junior outfielder Matt Masciangelo is the most cursed or blessed player in college baseball.
Masciangelo is a master at getting on base via hit by pitch. In fact, over a span of nine plate appearances over the last two days, he has been hit by eight pitches.
What is the NCAA hit-by-pitch record?
Since 2004, the NCAA record for most hit by pitches in a single season in Division I college baseball is held by Vanderbilt’s Brian Harris, who was plunked 37 times throughout 65 games in 2010. Still, that doesn’t come close to the pace that Masciangelo is on.
If Masciangelo maintains this pace, he’ll wind up with 149.33 hit by pitches this year, and that doesn’t include any potential games in the WAC Tournament or beyond. So, yeah, just a few more than Harris suffered more than a decade ago.
Keep in mind, all of this happened in just three games as well. The most times a batter has been hit in three games in Major League Baseball, is 6, by Cincinnati’s Derek Dietrich during the 2020 season. Masciangelo clears that figure with one to spare. Incredible.
Sacramento State getting beaned into the season
Yes and no. Through just three games this season, the Hornets have been hit by 12 pitches. Even without Masciangelo, that would still be more than one HBP per game. That said, Masciangelo still has twice as many HBPs as every other player on the team combined. Only four other players on the team — Jacob Cortez, Brett Ott, Ryan Christiansen, and JP Smith — have been struck, but each has suffered that pain only once.
Furthermore, eight of the team’s 12 HBPs all came in the team’s second game against Loyola Marymount University. Crazy enough though, not a single LMU pitcher recorded more than two HBPs all game. Masciangelo was hit four times in that game alone.
Getting plunked makes you a fan favorite
Masciangelo did not play for Sacramento State in 2023. However, if he keeps getting hit, fans will start to take notice and go absolutely bonkers every time it happens again, as long as none of those HBPs result in a serious injury.
For example, most casual baseball fans do not know who Tim Locastro is. However, he became a fan favorite in MLB during the 2019 season for his remarkable ability to get hit by pitches. In just 250 plate appearances that season, Locastro was hit by 22 pitches. Just fewer than once every 11 times he stepped up to the plate. That was already enough to give hardcore MLB fans something to cheer for, but Locastro was always able to make something out of those hit by pitches as well. He stole 17 bases in 2019, and never got caught. He would get hit by a pitch, walk to first and then take second, it was phenomenal. In fact, Locastro holds the MLB record for most consecutive stolen bases without getting caught to start a career (29). The previous record was 27, which had been held since 1951. The cleats Locastro wore for his 28th consecutive stolen bag were even sent to Cooperstown.
Essentially, Tim Locastro has a section of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame because of his ability to get hit by pitches and then steal second base. That is the power of HBPs. If Masciangelo can accomplish any sort of similar feat at Sacramento State, he’ll be the talk of campus in no time. Unfortunately, Masciangelo has not been able to turn any of his HBPs into stolen bases. In fact, he’s only attempted one stolen base all year, and he was caught.
