POCATELLO, Idaho -- Sacramento State received great pitching, offense and defense on the way to a doubleheader sweep at Idaho State on Friday afternoon at Miller Ranch Stadium. The Hornets won the first game, 3-0, before taking the nightcap by an 11-4 score.

Sacramento State dominated throughout, trailing just once the entire afternoon - down, 2-1, after the first inning of Game 2 only to score twice in the top of the second. Today's games marked the Big Sky Conference openers for both teams, and served as the home opener for Idaho State.

The Hornets continue to play well, winning three straight and seven of their last eight games to improve to 18-13 overall and 2-0 in the Big Sky. During that eight-game stretch, Sacramento State has won four of those games by at least seven runs. Idaho State, which had won four of its last six, dropped to 16-16 and 0-2 in league play.

Marissa Bertuccio, the Hornets' ace, was dominant in the first game, tossing a two-hit shutout while walking one and striking out seven. She had a perfect game through four innings, and a no-hitter through 5 2/3 innings. The Bengals broke through with a single with two outs in the sixth inning, and another single to lead off the seventh. However, both of those runners did not pass first base as Bertuccio improved to 12-3 with a 2.11 ERA.

Lexie Webb worked the first four innings of Game 2 to earn her fourth win of the season, and freshman Caroline Evans tossed the final three innings to pick up her first collegiate save.

Offensively, Sacramento State hit .321 (18-for-56) over two games, and received home runs from Webb, Amber Rodriguez, Alondra Mejia and Lewa Day. The Mejia blast was a grand slam (second slam of her career) which broke things open in the sixth inning of Game 2 and gave the Hornets a 9-3 lead. All four home runs came in the nighcap, and the Hornets homered in three consecutive innings. That included a solo homer from Day to lead off the game, a two-run blast from Rodriguez in the second, and a solo shot from Webb in the third.

For Webb, her 13 homers are tied for the third best mark in the nation, and she is just five round trippers shy of the Sacramento State single-season record of 18, set by Suzy Brookshire in 2018. Day hit her 11th homer of the season, and she is now batting .429. In fact, the Hornets have three players hitting at least .400, including Webb (.400) and Evans (.400). In Game 2, Evans reached base safely in all four plate appearances with a double and three walks.

The big blow of Game 1 came from freshman Nikki Barboza, who crushed a two-out, two-run double to right field scoring Arianna Pires and Gwen Ludwig. That broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, and the Hornets added an insurance run on an RBI-single from Mejia (one batter after Webb was intentionally walked). In fact, Mejia's grand slam in Game 2 also came one batter after Webb received an intentional pass.

Three different Hornets finished the day with three hits, including Rylee Gresham (3), Webb (3) and Mejia (3). Mejia finished the day with five RBIs, and now has 20 RBIs in 81 at-bats this season.

The Hornets and Bengals will conclude the three-game series tomorrow at 11 a.m. PDT.