SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State's Jessica Ravetti combined for four hits and four RBIs while Celina Matthias earned a win and a save as the Hornets swept a Big Sky Conference doubleheader over North Dakota on Friday afternoon at Shea Stadium.

The Hornets won the first game, 2-1, before taking the nightcap by a 6-4 score. Today marked the conference-opening games for both teams. Sacramento State and North Dakota will wrap up the three-game series tomorrow at noon.

Sacramento State combined to score eight runs on 15 hits in the doubleheader while the pitching staff allowed just five runs in 14.0 innings (2.50 ERA). The Hornets have now won four straight, and 10 of their last 14 games after beginning the season with a 2-8 record. Sacramento State improved to 12-12 overall and 2-0 in league while North Dakota dropped to 10-20 and 0-2 in league.

Ravetti had multiple-hit games in both contests today, combining to go 4-for-6 with a double and four RBIs. The junior first baseman had a pair of RBIs in both games, and drove in what proved to be the game-winning run in both contests. Matthias went the distance in the first game, allowing one run and five hits over seven innings before coming back in the nightcap to pitch the seventh inning and earn her third save of the year. Matthias, who is now 8-8 with a 2.97 ERA, has pitched in 23 of the Hornets' 24 games this year.

Sacramento State trailed just once, and that came in the top of the second of the nightcap when the Fighting Hawks took a 2-1 lead. However, the Hornets bounced back in the bottom of the second to score three times and never trailed the rest of the way. Sacramento State had a number of timely hits, combining to hit .313 (5-for-16) with runners in scoring position and .333 (6-for-18) with two outs.

In addition, sophomore second baseman Zamari Hinton had hits in both games, and extended her hitting streak to 12 games, tied for the seventh longest in the program's Div. I era (1990-pres.). Over that 12-game span, Hinton is batting .525 (21-for-40), and overall, she is batting .388 this season.

"Our pitchers battled all day and came up with good pitches in tight situations to induce outs," Sacramento State head coach Lori Perez said. "I thought our defense stepped up in key moments and helped shut things down. In addition, our offense continued to put runs on the board. Every time North Dakota scored, our offense punched right back and that was nice to see."

GAME 1

Ravetti and Matthias played key roles in a well-pitched game that saw North Dakota starter Kaylin Van Domelen allow just four hits and two runs (one earned) over six innings.

Both of those runs came in the first inning when Ravetti lined a 2-0 pitch into right-center field for a two-run double scoring both Hinton and Sasha Margulies. Hinton had reached on a one-out walk and Margulies followed by reaching on a North Dakota fielding error.

Sacramento State did not get a runner past second base the remainder of the game, combining for just three hits over the last five innings against Van Domelen. The Hornets' only real opportunity to score during their final five at-bats came when Sydney Rasmussen drew a walk and stole second base with one out in the third.

Meanwhile, Matthias was impressive, throwing 95 pitches in a game that lasted just an hour and 21 minutes. The right-hander allowed one run on five hits while walking one and striking out three batters. She faced only five batters over the minimum, and allowed one hit during the final three innings. Matthias did escape a first-inning jam that saw North Dakota get runners to second and third with one out. UND's lone run came in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Rachael Waynick.

Ravetti finished the game 2-for-3 with two RBIs and accounted for half of the Hornets' hits. Hinton and Shelby Johnston had the other hits for Sacramento State. Van Domelen saw her record fall to 7-10 with the tough-luck loss.

GAME 2

In a back and forth affair that saw the two teams combine for 10 runs and 21 hits, it was the Hornets that outlasted the Fighting Hawks, 6-4. North Dakota scored in three separate innings while Sacramento State scored in four different innings. Shutdown innings by both pitching staffs were in short supply as the two teams continuously scored runs.

After the Hornets took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, North Dakota scored twice in the top of the second only to see the Hornets score three times in the bottom of the second for a 4-2 lead. UND cut the lead to 4-3 in the top of the fourth before Sacramento State scored another run in the bottom half to take a 5-3 lead. The Fighting Hawks then immediately scored a run in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-4. The Hornets scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to provide the final outcome.

There were only two 1-2-3 innings during the entire game, and that came in the top of the first and bottom of the fifth. Sacramento State used three different pitchers as starter Taylor Tessier threw 4.0 innings, followed by Savanna Corr (2.0 ip) and Matthias (1.0 ip). Tessier (2-0) got the win, allowing three runs and eight hits over her four innings.

Offensively, the 11 hits tied for the Hornets' third largest output of the season, as all but one Sacramento State starter had at least one hit. That included multiple-hit games by Ravetti (2-for-3 with two RBIs), Margulies (2-for-3 with an RBI) and Kayla Papez (2-for-3).

The Hornets scored their runs via throwing error allowing Rasmussen to score in the first, followed in the second inning by RBI-singles from Kortney Solis and Hinton as well as Ravetti getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. In the fourth inning, a Ravetti ground ball to second base allowed Hinton to race home from third, followed in the sixth by a two-out, RBI-single from Margulies scoring Natalie Alas.

The Fighting Hawks stranded 10 runners on base, and got seven different players to third during the course of the game. However, each time North Dakota threatened to take a lead, Sacramento State's pitching staff would get the big out.

North Dakota's Hannah Bergh (3-9) got the loss, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned) in 1.2 innings. Kyra Lenzi worked the final 4.1 innings, yielding six hits and two runs. North Dakota pitchers combined to strike out just three Sacramento State batters all day.