The Hornets improved to 28-32 on the year while the Bears dropped to 26-20.

Sacramento State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning after a sacrifice fly to center by sophomore Brian Blauser and an RBI single by junior Brett Flowers. Senior Jack Arroyo led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to second on a single to right field by junior Craig Johnson. After both runners advanced on a double steal, Blauser hit a fly to center to score Arroyo. Flowers followed with a single to left to score Johnson.

The Hornets increased their lead to 6-0 in the second inning after Arroyo scored from third on a fielding error by Bear second baseman Brad Baker, Johnson drove in a run with a single to right, Blauser hit an RBI double to center and Flowers drove in a run with a single to right field. Arroyo scored from third when Baker allowed a ball to roll into center field after Johnson attempted to steal second.

Northern Colorado cut the deficit to 6-5 after an RBI single by Patrick Perry, a two-run double by Brennan Garr and an RBI single by Matt Sutton.

Sacramento State made it 10-5 in the bottom of the fourth after Johnson scored on a wild pitch by Bear reliever Aaron Kelly, Acha drove in a run with a single to right field, Flowers scored on a wild pitch by Kelly and Acha crossed the plate after a throwing error by Garr at third base.

The Bears made it 10-7 in the top of the sixth after a two-run single to right field by Perry.

The Hornets increased their lead to 15-7 in the bottom of the sixth when junior Pedro Santiago drove in two runs with a single up the middle, Arroyo hit an RBI single to short and Johnson drove in two runs with a double to left center field.

Sacramento State made it 17-7 in the bottom of the seventh after a bases loaded RBI walk by sophomore Jim Strombach and an RBI single to left by Arroyo.

Katz (9-5) earned the win after allowing seven runs on 10 hits while walking five and striking out five in 6.0 innings of work. Senior Renecke Stelzriede and junior Brandon Hall combined for 3.0 innings of scoreless relief. Hall increased his season-high scoreless inning streak to 9.2 innings and lowered his ERA to 1.32.

Angelo Telitz (4-4) was tagged with the loss after giving up eight runs (five earned) on eight hits while walking five and striking out four in 3.1 innings.

Acha (3-for-3), Arroyo (2-for-4) and Blauser (2-for-4) also finished with multiple hits to contribute to the Hornet offense.

Sacramento State and Northern Colorado will play the series finale on Sunday, May 16, at 1 p.m. The game will mark the end of the 2004 season for the Hornets.