PHOENIX, Ariz. — Junior catcher Jacob Cortez tied a career-high with four hits, leading a group of five Sacramento State hitters with three-or-more hits on the night, helping lift the Hornets to a dominating 15-5 run-rule victory over host Grand Canyon on Friday night at Brazell Field at GCU Ballpark.

The victory improved Sacramento State to 27-19 overall and 11-5 in the Western Athletic Conference this season, winning its 10th consecutive series opener and improving to 11-1 in the first game of a weekend series this year.

It also marks the Hornets' first run-rule win of the season and their first since a 12-1 victory in seven innings against Stephen F. Austin at home on May 10 of last year.

The Lopes, who entered the night tied atop the WAC standings with Utah Valley, fell to 26-19 overall and 12-7 in league play.

Cortez's night was just a small piece of the Hornets' offensive deluge as Sacramento State's 15 runs are the second-most this year behind only the 19 scored at San Francisco on Feb. 17 and marked the 10th time that they have reached double-digits this year. The 21 hits were a season high and the most in a single game in almost two years since banging out 22 hits against Pacific on May 16, 2023.

In all, eight of the nine starters in the lineup finished with at least one hit and seven of those logged multiple hits in the winning effort.

Senior right-hander Evan Gibbons (8-1) was the recipient of the excessive run support, picking up his eighth win of the year and his sixth in his last seven starts. He pitched seven of the eight innings, allowing the five runs on seven hits, walking only one and striking out seven en route to the victory.

Senior right-hander Andrew Monson then came on to pitch the eighth, striking out the side on 12 pitches to end the game.

Sacramento State put up a pair of five-run innings in the third and sixth to seize control of the contest, erasing an early 2-0 hole after GCU had slugged a pair of solo home runs in the first to take the early lead.

Matt Masciangelo's two-run single, part of a three-hit night for the senior, gave the Hornets the lead for good and Cortez added another two-run single two pitches later to cap the scoring. Another home run in the fourth by the Lopes made it a two-run game, but Sacramento State was just getting started.

Ryan Christiansen was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Tyler White drew a bases-loaded walk, and Michael Perazzo had a run-scoring ground ball to get the scoring started, while Luis Pimentel-Guerrero added a two-run single up the middle, bringing the Hornets' total to 10 runs for the game.

Christiansen and White added run-scoring hits in the sixth, Cortez doubled in another run in the seventh, and Pimentel-Guerrero capped the night with an RBI single to center in the eighth.

All nine starters in the lineup scored at least one run while seven of the ninth drove in at least one. Only three of Sacramento State's 21 hits went for extra-bases as Cortez and Jakob Poturnak finished with doubles and White clubbed his fifth triple of the season — the most since Wehiwa Aloy had five in 2023. One more triple for White this season would tie him for sixth on the school's single-season list with nine other players.

Game two of the series is scheduled for Saturday night (May 3) at 7 p.m.