Sacramento State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning when junior Chris Kinsey hit a two-run homer and sophomore Matt Wilson added an RBI single. With one out, senior Tim Reimer ran the count full and drew a walk from Cal’ Joe Todoroff. In the next at-bat, Kinsey drove a 2-1 pitch over the center field wall to record his fourth home run of the season. With two outs in the inning, junior Jesse Schmidt walked and then stole second base. Wilson followed with base hit to left field to drive in Schmidt.

Cal answered back in the third inning after a grand-slam home run by Connor Jackson. Justin Nelson opened the inning with a double to right center and Jeff Dragicevich followed with a walk. After both runners moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Ben Conley, David Nicholson loaded the bases after being hit by senior Steve Cuckovich. Jackson followed with shot to left center field to give the Golden Bears the lead.

Cal made it 6-3 in the sixth after a two-run homer by Brad Smith. With one out, Scott Cheo singled to center field and Smith followed with a drive over the right field wall to knock Cuckovich out of the game.

The Hornets cut the lead to two in the bottom of the sixth when junior Mikela Olsen hit a solo shot to right center. The Oakhurst, Calif., native now leads the squad with eight home runs, 32 RBI, 37 hits and a .402 batting average.

Sacramento State completed its rally in the seventh with three runs on three hits and two fielding errors by Cal. Freshman Brian Blauser and sophomore Bret LeVier hit back-to-back singles to start off the inning and were advanced a base by sophomore Everet Rincon’s sacrifice bunt. In the next at-bat, senior Tim Reimer hit an RBI groundout to second base and Kinsey followed with an RBI single to center to tie the game at 6-6. With two outs, Olsen reached on a fielding error by first baseman James Holder while Kinsey moved to third on the play. Mike Padgett would then enter the contest in relief of Brent Hale and get Schmidt to hit a soft grounder to third baseman Connor Jackson. After an initial bobble, Jackson dropped the ball while transferring it from his glove to his hand which allowed Kinsey to score the eventual game-winner.

Sophomore Warren Rosebrock (1-1) earned the win after allowing no runs and one hit while striking out two and walking none in two innings. Kinsey, who has taken over the closer role for the Hornets, pitched a perfect ninth to earn his second save of the season. Sophomore Mel Cuckovich and junior Renecke Stelzriede each retired a batter with a man on in the eighth to contribute to the win.

Hale (0-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Kinsey finished 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI and Blauser recorded two hits in four at-bats to lead the Hornet offense.

Sacramento State will next face Pacific in a three-game series beginning at Billy Hebert Field on Friday, March 28, at 3 p.m. The second game of the series will be played at Hornet Field on Saturday, March 29 at 1 p.m. The series finale will head back to Billy Hebert Field on Sunday, March 30, at 1 p.m.