SACRAMENTO -- If you like offense, Saturday's doubleheader between Sacramento State and Stephen F. Austin was tailor-made for you.

The Hornets exploded for 17 runs and 21 hits in an opening game, 17-3, victory before the two teams exploded for a combined 28 runs as the Lumberjacks rallied for a 15-13 win in a nightcap that saw seven different lead changes.

The 17 runs were the most since the Hornets defeated Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) by a 21-4 score back on March 4 of last year, while the 21 hits marked the team's first 20-hit game since collecting 20 at UC Davis on March 5, 2013, and were the most since they had 21 against Albany on March 31, 2010.

With Saturday's results, Sacramento State moved to 13-14 overall and 3-6 in conference play following the split, while Stephen F. Austin moved to 13-13 overall and 7-5 in the WAC.

Freshman Wehiwa Aloy and JP Smith each collected six hits on the day to pace a red-hot offense, while Aloy added a pair of home runs — bringing his season total to a team-high seven — and drove in six runs. The duo were part of a group of eight Hornets who slugged a combined nine home runs on the day as Martin Vincelli-Simard (5-for-8 with three runs scored and three RBI), Gunner Gouldsmith (5-for-11 with five runs scored), Jorge Bojorquez, Garet Crenshaw, Jeffery Heard, and Griffin Harrison all left the yard.

After spending the better part of two weeks on the road, Sacramento State returns home for four straight next week, hosting Menlo College on Monday (April 3) at 6 p.m., before welcoming WAC rival Utah Valley in for a three-game series beginning Thursday (April 6) and running through Saturday (April 8).

GAME 1: SACRAMENTO STATE 17, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 3 (7 INN.)
Wehiwa Aloy and Jacob Cortez each finished with four hits on the day and the Hornets slugged five home runs — including three during an eight-run fifth inning — en route to a 17-3 victory in the opener.

The five home runs as a team were the most in a single game since Sacramento State slugged the same number at SeattleU on April 22, 2017. Meanwhile, JP Smith and Martin Vincelli-Simard added three hits apiece as six different Hornets finished with multiple hits on the day and every starter had at least one hit.

The top five hitters in the lineup accounted for the five home runs, combined for 14 of the team's 21 hits, and drove in 14 of the team's 17 runs. Cortez added three runs scored to his career-best four-hit day, while Aloy tied his career high with four RBI.

Singles by Gouldsmith and Aloy set the tone in the first as Bojorquez launched his third home run of the year to put the Hornets ahead, 3-0. It stayed that way until the fifth when Sacramento State sent 12 batters to the plate and scored a single-inning season-high eight runs to break the game wide open.

Vincelli-Simard slugged his then team-high sixth home run of the year after a walk to Smith, and the Hornets added another on an error by the SFA pitcher for a 6-0 lead. Cortez followed with an RBI single before the 'Jacks were able to get their first out of the inning, and he scored three batters later when Aloy left the yard with his sixth home run of the year to make it 9-0.

A walk to Bojorquez and Sacramento State officially batted around in the inning as Smith launched his fourth home run of the year for an 11-0 advantage.

Gouldsmith ballooned the lead to 14-0 in the sixth with his third home run of the season — a three-run shot — while Jaxon Byrd (RBI ground out) and Aloy (a two-run single) capped the scoring in the seventh.

Stephen F. Austin broke up the shutout with three runs in the seventh, but the game was too far out of reach as the Hornets ended the game with the run-rule.

Sophomore Noah Lucchesi (3-3) picked up the win, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out six in 6.1 innings of work, before Tyler Stewart got the final two outs. Lucchesi stranded five base runners — three of those in scoring position — through his first six innings before running into trouble in the seventh.

GAME 2: STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 15, SACRAMENTO STATE 13
In a contest that saw seven different lead changes and both teams combine for 17 runs in the first three innings, the 'Jacks needed a five-run seventh — including a go-ahead grand slam off by Peyton Parker — to finally take down the Hornets, 15-13, in a wild night cap.

Every Sacramento State starter had at least one hit once again as three-hit days by Gouldsmith and JP Smith led the way. Six of the nine starters finished with multiple hits as the Hornets collected 17 overall on the day.

A JP Smith RBI single in the first once again got the scoring started for Sacramento State, but it found itself behind after SFA plated three in the home half. The long ball played a big part in the comeback as Jeffery Heard led-off the second inning with his third home run of the year, and the Hornets took the lead on Aloy's seventh of the season later in the frame, scoring Gouldsmith (who singled) ahead of him.

This time, it was the Lumberjacks' turn for a big inning as the home team put up five in the home half of the second to take what was thought to be a commanding 8-4 lead, but Sacramento State's offense was not done, answering with five of its own in the third to regain the advantage.

Garet Crenshaw launched his second home run as a Hornet after Smith singled and Vincelli-Simard walked in the third to make it a one-run game before Griffin Harrison slugged his first career home run — a two-run shot with Carson Blatnick on base after a walk — for a 9-8 lead.

Of course, at the rate the two teams were going, that lead wasn't going to last very long. A single by Tom Biggs and a sacrifice fly by Barrett Rose in the fourth regained the lead for Stephen F. Austin, but the Hornets weren't done yet. Back-to-back run-scoring singles by Vincelli-Simard and and Crenshaw staked Sacramento State to an 11-10 lead, and the Hornets built on that advantage with two more in the seventh thanks to a Bojorquez two-run single up the middle for a three-run lead.

However, no lead was safe. The 'Jacks' Alex Rodgers cut the lead to two with a bases-loaded one-out RBI single before Parker came up with two outs and blasted a grand slam over the wall in left to take the lead for good.

Sacramento State was unable to mount one final rally as SFA closer Garrett Gearner retired all six batters he faced in the eighth and ninth innings to nail down the win.

Jack Zalasky (1-1), who entered the day having allowed only one run on two hits for the year, suffered the loss, charged with three runs on two hits while striking out four in 1.2 innings of work.