POCATELLO, Idaho -- Sacramento State's Gwen Ludwig and Lewa Day combined for seven hits, five runs and three RBIs to help lead the Hornets to a 7-5 win over Montana in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament Wednesday afternoon.

The Hornets (27-18), who are the No. 3 seed, advance in the double elimination postseason tournament where they will play No. 2 seed Idaho State tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. PT. The winner of that game will advance to a Friday morning contest at 10 a.m. PT. The loser of that game will play later Thursday at 3:30 p.m. PT vs. Portland State.

Should Sacramento State win tomorrow and Friday, it would be slotted into Saturday's championship game with an opportunity to gain the Big Sky's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

In today's contest, the two teams combined for 12 runs and 24 hits. Day got the Hornets on the board early with a three-run homer in the first inning, a shot that cleared the left field fence by about 75 feet and scored Ludwig and Haley Hanson. It was also the 60th career home run for Day, an ongoing Sacramento State and Big Sky record.

Montana strung together four runs in the third inning, which included a pair of homers, to take a 4-3 lead. The Hornets immediately responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. All three runs were scored with two outs, as Alexis Parish had a two-run double, and her sister Samantha Parish followed with an RBI-double.

Sacramento State would not trail the rest of the way. After Montana chopped the deficit to 6-5 in the top of the sixth, the Hornets picked up an insurance run in bottom six after a two-out RBI-single from Andrea Lira scored Ludwig.

Savannah Wahl earned her third save of the season while pitching a scoreless seventh inning. Marissa Bertuccio (14-7) picked up the win, throwing the first six innings.

Sacramento State had 13 hits, including Ludwig who went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and a stolen base. The four hits tied a Div. I era single-game record that has been set numerous times previously. She was joined by Day who finished 3-for-4 with two runs, a homer and three RBIs.

Samantha Parish was 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI, and Alexis Parish finished 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Haley Hanson, Kennedy Echols and Lira also had hits.