After Scott Welch’s single gave Minnesota a 1-0 lead in the first, Sacramento State answered back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to take its first lead of the game. With two outs, junior Chris Kinsey singled to center and then advanced to second on a wild pitch by Reid Mahon. Junior Mikela Olsen followed with a double to left center to tie the contest at 1-1. In the next at-bat, junior Jesse Schmidt laced a single to left field to score Olsen.

Minnesota would tie things up at 2-2 in the second but Sacramento State would take the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning after RBI singles by freshman Brian Blauser and junior John Acha. Leading off the inning, sophomore Bret LeVier reached on a fielding error by Hrncirik at third and then advanced to second on a balk by Mahon. In the next at-bat, senior Tim Reimer reached safely after a fielding error by second baseman Luke Appert while LeVier moved to third. Blauser followed with a single to center to make it 3-2. With one out and runners on second and third, Acha hit a drive down the right field line to give the Hornets a 5-2 lead

The Golden Gophers would add a run in the third after an Appert hit a double down the left field line and then scored on the play due to a fielding error by Olsen.

The Hornets would then tally four runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and one in the sixth to push the lead to 12-3. In the fourth, Olsen recorded an RBI single to center and junior Cliff Hinkle added a three-run home run to left center. In the fifth, Acha drove in a run with a groundout to short and Kinsey hit an RBI single to left field. In the sixth, Reimer drove in Hinkle from third with a base-hit to right field.

Minnesota would cut the lead to 12-5 in seventh after RBI singles by Sam Steidl, Jake Elder and Ben Pattee and an RBI ground out by Gary Dick.

Kinsey led the Hornet offense after finishing 4-for-5 with one run and an RBI on the afternoon. The Elk Grove, Calif., native is now 10-for-13 with eight RBI in his last three games while raising his batting average from .274 to .351 during that span. Acha, Blauser, Hinkle and Olsen also recorded multiple hits for the squad.

Senior Steve Cuckovich (3-1) recorded the win after allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits while striking our two and walking four in six and one-thirds innings of work. Freshman Mel Cuckovich and Kinsey added two and two-thirds innings of relief for the Hornets to help preserve the win.

The Hornets will next travel to UC Riverside to face the Highlanders for a two-game set beginning on Saturday, March 22, at 6 p.m. in the Riverside Sports Complex.