SACRAMENTO -- Sophomore JP Smith homered twice as part of a three-hit day while three other Hornets also drove in runs, as the Sacramento State baseball team battled the elements before emerging with a 7-5 series-opening victory over Minnesota on Friday afternoon at John Smith Field.

The victory improved the Hornets to 4-5 overall on the year, while the Golden Gophers fell to 2-5 overall.

Smith finished 3-for-4 to tie his career high in hits while the two home runs -- numbers four and five on the year -- marked his second multi-home run game of the year to go along with his two home run night against Fresno State on Feb. 21. Overall, Friday was the fourth time that Smith had finished with a pair of home runs in the same game after doing so twice as a freshman in 2023 when he finished with 14 home runs overall.

Seven other Hornets finished with hits on the day as Sacramento State belted out 10 against the Minnesota staff.

Senior right-hander Cooper Rons (1-0) earned the win in relief, allowing just one hit and striking out three over two innings. Freshman right-hander Kade Brown picked up his second save of the season with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, striking out one. Will Semb (1-1) suffered the loss for the Golden Gophers, allowing six runs on eight hits over six innings, but striking out seven on the day.

Smith's first home run of the game put Sacramento State on the board first in the opening inning, two batters after Tyler White draw a walk to start off the home half, reaching the wall of the parking structure in left field for the 2-0 lead.

After the Golden Gophers answered with a two-run blast of their own to tie the game in the fourth, the Hornets nearly broke open the game for good with a four-run home half of the inning as back-to-back singles by Jorge Bojorquez and Elie Kligman set the table for Cameron Sewell, who collected his first career hit and RBI with a single to centerfield for the 3-2 lead.

Two batters later, White rolled a single through the left side to make it a two-run game and was quickly followed by Gunner Gouldsmith, who dropped a two-run single into right centerfield for a 6-2 advantage.

That lead wouldn't last long as Minnesota answered with three runs in the fifth thanks to a three-run shot by Brady Counsell that cut the deficit to just one with nobody out. The brought in Rons from the bullpen for the Hornets, who walked the opening batter before retiring three straight, leaving the potential tying run at third.

The bullpen then shut the door from there, allowing just four baserunners and a pair of hits the rest of the way, while Smith's second home run in the seventh gave Sacramento State some breathing room. Brown worked around an error to lead-off the ninth, getting a fly ball, a fielder's choice, and a ground out to nail down the save.

Game two of the series is tentatively scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday (March 2) at John Smith Field. Any changes to that start time due to weather will be announced on HornetSports.com and the baseball team's social media pages when information becomes available.