FULLERTON, Calif. -- Sacramento State needed just two hits, and used a dramatic game-ending rundown that involved a diving tag by pitcher Marissa Bertuccio, as the Hornets defeated Iowa State, 3-2, on Sunday morning at Anderson Family Field.

The win allowed the Hornets to salvage one game during the three-day, five-game Louisville Slugger Invitational, co-hosted by Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton. All five games the Hornets played during the tournament were decided by two runs or less, including defeats that could have gone either way against Nebraska, Cal State Fullerton, Boston and Long Beach State.

Sacramento State improved to 12-12 with the win, and has now played in six straight, and 14 games this season that have been decided by two runs or less. Today's win came over a very good Iowa State team (15-9) that had handily beaten Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton and Boston over the last two days.

Sacramento State had just two hits in today's game, and used three Iowa State errors to score three unearned runs. Sacramento State scored runs on a wild pitch in the first inning (Lexie Webb scored), a passed ball in the fifth (Lewa Day scored) and a pinch hit RBI-double from Caroline Evans scoring Rylee Gresham in the sixth. That gave the Hornets a 3-1 lead, and proved to be the game-winning hit.

Iowa State made things interesting in the seventh, as the first two batters of the inning had base hits. Eventually, the Cyclones pushed a run across, and had runners at the corners with one out. That's when Bertuccio got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, setting up a crazy play to finish the game.

With the potential tying runner at third base, and the game-winning run at second (after a steal), Bertuccio uncorked a pitch that got past Hornet catcher Nevaeh Pinon. The runner (Alesia Ranches) broke for home, but the ball bounced back to Pinon who fielded the ball and turned to tag. Ranches reversed course back to third. A rundown ensued that went 2-5-3-6-1, and ended with Bertuccio making a diving tag just before Ranches had gotten back to third base.

Bertuccio (8-3) tossed her eighth complete game of the season, allowing seven hits and two runs over seven innings with a pair of walks and four strikeouts. She needed 105 pitches to get the win, and is now 8-3 with a 2.40 ERA this season.

The Hornets' lone hits came from Evans and Alondra Mejia. Both Lewa Day and Pinon walked twice. Day finished the five-game tournament with a .619 on-base percentage, three home runs and a 1.067 slugging percentage.

Sacramento State has just six non-league games remaining on the schedule before jumping into Big Sky Conference play. That includes a home doubleheader with North Dakota on Thursday at 1 p.m., followed by three games on Saturday-Sunday in Stockton.