STEPHENVILLE, Texas – Sacramento State wrapped up a series win in its first conference matchup with Sunday's 20-5 win on the road against the Tarleton Texans.

Sacramento State (10-5, 3-1 WAC) scored in every inning on their way to Sunday's victory over Tarleton (7-11, 1-3 WAC). The Hornets' 20 runs are their most since scoring 21 during the 2019 season in a 21-10 win at Cal Baptist and tied for their second most ever in a Western Athletic Conference game.

As it has all weekend, the scoring started early as Sacramento State jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by a Matt Smith three-run home run.

The blast was the first of two for the Hornets' outfielder, who added a solo shot in the seventh inning to give Sacramento State its 20th and final run of the afternoon.

The Hornets then added four more in the second, thanks in part to RBI-doubles from both Ryan Walstad and Steven Moretto.

Tarleton responded with a pair of runs in both the second and third innings, but Sacramento State kept adding on, scoring a run in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings to take a 12-4 lead.

The Hornets blew the game wide open in the sixth, scoring seven times on just two hits. Three Tarleton pitchers combined to allow one hit, walk three Hornets, and hit two others before Jorge Bojorquez delivered the dagger, a bases-clearing triple.

Up 19-4 in the seventh, Smith's second home run of the game made it a 20-4 game. Tarleton added their final run of the day in the bottom of the seventh, scratching across a run on the Hornets' first error of the afternoon.

Smith reached base six times on Sunday, going 4-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, and five runs scored. He was hit by a pitch twice. Smith had an incredible series, hitting .471 with a massive 1.059 slugging percentage. He scored 12 runs, homered three times, and drove in five.  

Bojorquez also drove in four on Sunday, including three in one inning, while going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk. The Nogales, Ariz. native finished this weekend's WAC series with a team-leading nine RBIs and homered twice. 

Walstad, who doubled home a run in the second inning, finished the game with three doubles, going 3-for-6 with three runs scored and an RBI. The Hornets' senior first baseman has a team-leading three three-hit games through the season's first 15 contests. He also leads the club with seven doubles and a .500 on-base percentage.

Making his second start of the series on Sunday, Dylan McPhillips put together a 2-for-4 afternoon with three RBIs and a sacrifice fly. In two games this weekend, McPhillips hit .625 (5-for-8) with two doubles, six RBIs, and five runs scored.

Two other Hornets – Trevor Doyle and Steven Moretto – each had two hits, while Aaron Zeidman rounded out the team's 17 hits with one of his own. All nine Sacramento State starters scored at least one run while eight of nine drove in at least one. 

In total this weekend, the Sacramento State offense scored 56 runs in four games. The Hornets had 54 hits, including 13 doubles, two triples, and eight home runs. The Hornets hit .378 against the Texans while posting a .483 on-base percentage and a .664 slugging percentage. 

On the mound on Sunday, Sacramento State turned to freshman Noah Takacs for the getaway day start. Takacs allowed four runs over 2.2 innings on just three hits and a walk. He struck out three. 

The Hornets turned to three of their veteran relievers to prevent any further damage and avoid a potential Texans comeback similar to Saturday's game. 

Brady Rodriguez tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out three. The appearance was the seventh of the year for Rodriguez, who leads the club in that category. He picked up the win in Sunday's game and is now 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 10.0 innings.

Rodriguez was followed by Jack Zalasky, who threw a perfect sixth while striking out two. Zalasky has done nothing but strike out opponents this season, climbing to 14 in 9.1 innings after Sunday's outing. He lowered his ERA to 0.96 while opponents are hitting .176 against him.  

Hornets' closer Stone Churby, who had not pitched all weekend, got a chance at the seventh. The Texans managed to scratch across one unearned run against the righthander before Churby closed out the game, allowing one unearned run on one hit and a strikeout. It was the first run to score this season against Churby, though he maintained his 0.00 ERA across 6.0 innings this year.

With this weekend's series win, Sacramento State is 3-1 to start the Western Athletic Conference portion of the 2021 schedule while improving to 10-5 overall. 

The Hornets will return home to Sacramento before heading back out on the road for their next series, a four-game set at Utah Valley. That series is set to begin Friday, March 20 with a single game at 5 p.m. PT. The Hornets and Wolverines will play two on Saturday, starting at noon PT with Sunday's finale set for 11 a.m. PT. All four games will stream live on the WAC Digital Network with live stats available from HornetSats.com.

As always, direct links for video, live stats, news and notes, and more can be found on the Sacramento State baseball schedule online at HornetSports.com.