SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State mounted a two-out rally in the seventh inning but an extremely close play at first base did not get called the Hornets' way in a 4-3 loss to UC Davis on an overcast and rainy Tuesday afternoon at Shea Stadium. The game, which was pushed back 32 minutes because of a rain delay, marked the home opener for Sacramento State.

With the Hornets trailing, 4-2, and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Nene Alas and Sydney Rasmussen hit back-to-back doubles off Aggie reliever Sara Cadona to cut the deficit to 4-3. Zamari Hinton then hit a ground ball towards the middle of the diamond that second baseman Alex Sotomayor backhanded and quickly threw to first base. The play was bang-bang at first base and Hinton was ruled out on a play that could have easily gone either way. Rasmussen, who began the play at second base, had already rounded third base on the play and would have likely scored the tying run had Hinton been ruled safe at first base.

Still, the biggest factor in the outcome of today's game was defense. UC Davis played a flawless game in the field, and Sacramento State made two crucial throwing errors that resulted in a pair of unearned Aggie runs. That proved to be the difference as Hornet starter Celina Matthias was effective in her seven innings of work.

With the victory, UC Davis improved to 5-3. Sacramento State, which hadn't played in 10 days, fell to 2-3. The Hornets entered the game with a 20-8 record in home openers since the program joined the Div. I ranks in 1990. Sacramento State is now 64-39 all-time against UC Davis.

The Aggies opened the scoring in the top of the first with the help of two bloop singles, a bunt hit and a Sacramento State throwing error. Only one of the runs in the inning was earned and the Hornets were immediately trailing, 2-0, before getting an at-bat. Sacramento State would cut the deficit in half in the second inning after a two-out, RBI-single from Tiffany Moore scored Suzy Brookshire from third base.

UC Davis then scored single runs in the fourth (Sotomayor RBI-single) and fifth innings (Hornet throwing error with two outs allowing Taylor Peters to score) to take a 4-2 lead. Sacramento State got another two-out hit to score a run in the bottom of the fifth when Sydney Rasmussen singled home pinch runner Marissa Maligad. In fact, all three Sacramento State runs were scored with two outs, and two of those RBI-hits came from Rasmussen.

Matthias (1-2) was the hard-luck losing pitcher as UC Davis didn't hit many balls hard, but managed to tally eight hits and the four runs. All eight hits for the Aggies were singles, and many either didn't leave the infield or barely snuck onto the outfield grass via bloops. Sacramento State had a number of hard-hit balls during the game, but continued to hit balls right at Aggie defenders. Katie Kibby (4-0) got the win, allowing five hits and two runs in five innings while Cadona earned her second save of the season after throwing the final two innings.

Rasmussen (2-for-4, double, two RBIs), Brookshire (2-for-3 with a run) and Alas (2-for-3 with a run and a double) each had multiple-hit games for Sacramento State. In fact, it was those three players that combined for six of the Hornets' eight hits. Hinton went 0-for-4 and saw her 10-game hitting streak snapped. That hitting streak dated back to the final six games of last season.

Sacramento State returns to action later this week when the team competes at the three-day Libby Matson Tournament in Stockton. The Hornets will play twice on Friday, twice on Saturday, and once more on Sunday. The Hornets open the tournament on Friday against CSUN at 11 a.m. and host Pacific at 3:30 p.m.