FRESNO, Calif. -- Sasha Margulies had a walkoff RBI-single in the bottom of the eighth, and Caitlin Brooks tossed a three-hit shutout to lead Sacramento State to a 1-0 victory over UC Riverside in the fifth and final round of the Fresno State Softball Kickoff Sunday morning at Margie Wright Stadium.

The Hornets (3-5 overall) were playing their third consecutive extra inning game, and, after dropping an eight-inning and a 13-inning game yesterday, were able to pull out today's extra inning affair. Sacramento State concludes the three-day tournament with a 1-4 record, and avenged last night's 13-inning loss to UC Riverside (6-3) which lasted nearly four hours.

In today's game, Brooks (1-1) was dominant, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out 10 batters over eight innings. The senior right-hander and reigning Big Sky Conference Pitcher of the Year faced just five batters over the minimum while throwing 127 pitches. In fact, Brooks retired 10 consecutive batters on two separate occasions during the game, including the final 10 batters of the contest.

With the tiebreaker rule in effect to begin the top of the eighth, a UC Riverside runner was placed on second base to being the inning. That didn't matter to Brooks as she set down the side in order without allowing the run to score. The only real trouble for Brooks came in the fifth inning when she loaded the bases with two outs before getting Karina Romero to fly out and end the threat.

Meanwhile, the Hornets were having trouble against UC Riverside's Chelsea Ponce (4-2), who threw seven innings of relief to defeat Sacramento State last night. Ponce allowed just four hits and an unearned run in 7.1 innings, which included working out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the bottom of the seventh.

In the bottom of the eighth, Marissa Maligad was placed on second base to begin the inning. After she was sacrificed to third base by Paige Martin, Margulies ended things by hitting the first pitch of the at-bat to left field to end the game. Sacramento State was only able to scratch out four hits, including one from Maligad, Paris Prado and Alexa Chattleton. The Chattleton base hit extended her hitting streak to four games while Prado's hitting streak reached three games. Shortstop Paige Castro went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch, snapping her six-game hitting streak.

Through eight games, Sacramento State has four players hitting better than .300, comprised of Zamari Hinton (.357), Chattleton (.348), Castro (.333) and Shelby Johnston (.308).

The Hornets return to action for their home opener on Saturday, Feb. 21, when the team hosts a doubleheader against Saint Mary's on Saturday, beginning at noon.