The Mustangs improve to 28-14 after earning a No. 24 ranking from Collegiate Baseball earlier this week. The Hornets fall to 18-25-1 on the season.

Cal Poly was led by left-hander Garrett Olson (10-2), who went six innings allowing just one run on five hits while collecting six strikeouts.

Sacramento State senior Ethan Katz (5-7) took the loss after pitching four innings and allowing nine runs (four earned).

The Hornets committed four costly errors in the game as the Mustangs jumped out to a 9-0 lead after four innings.

At the plate, Cal Poly benefited from Josh Lansford, who was 4-for-4 with three RBIs and one run. He also hit his fourth home run of the season in the third inning. The Mustangs’ Bret Berglund also hit a home run and left fielder Matt Cooper finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Sacramento State got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning when junior Jim Strombach hit his team-leading 12th double of the year to right field, scoring freshman David Flores.

The Hornets added two runs in the eighth inning when senior Matt Wilson’s RBI-double scored juniors Josh Levin and Pat Keiper.

Strombach finished the game 2-for-5 with one RBI and has now recorded 17 multiple-hit games. Wilson’s double was his 11th of the season and he finished the game 1-for-4 with two RBIs. The Canoga Park, Calif., native is second on the team with 23 RBIs in 2005.

Sacramento State will play the second game of the three-game series at 6 p.m. on Saturday night at Baggett Stadium. The series will end on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. start. Live Audio is available on www.GoPoly.com.