The Hornets, now 2-0 in the River City Classic and 6-6 overall, also remain undefeated at home with a 5-0 record. Portland falls to 1-6.

Sacramento State will play its third game of the four-day tourney against eighth-ranked Oregon State on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The first game of the day, starting at 10 a.m., will feature BYU and Saint Mary’s.

The Hornets took an early in lead in the first inning when junior Gary Johnson scored the first run of the game on a Pat Keiper RBI-single. Senior Brian Blauser then hit his second home run in as many games (third of the season) over the right field wall, edging the Elk Grove Calif., native’s career total to 10 blasts.

With a 2-0 lead, junior Montana Dye reached on an error and senior Jim Strombach singled with both runners advancing on an error by Portland third baseman, Danny Meier. Sophomore David Flores produced an RBI-single to score Dye for the third run, before Strombach scored the fourth run of the inning, combining with Flores on a double steal.

Strombach, now on a five-game hitting streak, finished the day 3-for-4 with two stolen bases.

The Hornets put up another run in the bottom of the sixth when senior left fielder Brian Conradi singled to left field scoring Flores. Flores finished his day 2-for-3 with a walk, run and stolen base. The Union City, Calif., native has been walked six times this year and has a .415 on-base percentage.

Senior right-hander Travis Kane (1-1) earned the win for the Hornets after pitching 7.0 innings and allowing two runs on nine hits while striking out four. The Wenatchee, Wash., native now leads the staff with 16 strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh, Sacramento State added two additional runs for a 7-2 lead when Keiper’s RBI-single to right center scored Johnson. Strombach then recorded his third double of the year to right center scoring Blauser for the Hornets’ final run. Keiper, a Los Angeles native, continues to lead the team with a .449 average, 22 hits and 13 RBIs.

The Pilots mounted a three-run inning in the top of the ninth to make things close when Meier hit a two-run shot to left center, but Nik Kosach flied out to right field, ending the game.

Sean Sargent (0-3) took the loss for Portland after pitching 5.0 innings and allowing four runs (two earned).

Sacramento State’s game against the sixth-ranked Beavers can be heard on www.hornetsports.com with Dylan McKenzie on the play-by-play. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.