PHOENIX -- Sacramento State put up crooked numbers in the first, third and sixth innings, and Kyndal Williams earned her first victory over the season, as the Hornets beat South Dakota, 9-1, in six innings.

The game marked the finale of the GCU Invite, a three-day tournament in Phoenix in which the Hornets posted a 4-1 record. Three of those victories (one Friday, one Saturday, and one today) came against South Dakota. 

The Hornets improved to 8-2 overall, the team's best 10-game start since the 1995 squad opened the year with a 9-1 record. Sacramento State has won three straight, and its only loss of the tournament came to 27th-ranked Grand Canyon by a 4-2 score on Friday night.

Katie Marsh continued her torrid stretch, hitting a two-run homer in the first inning to open the scoring. The senior catcher has now homered in three straight games, and concluded the tournament with 10 RBIs. 

The Hornets tacked on three more in the third, highlighted by RBI-singles from both Marsh and Madison Evers-Lyles. A Lafulafu Malepeai RBI-double increased the lead to 6-0 in the fourth, and the Hornets put things away in the sixth with a Madi Mendoza RBI-single and Saskia Raab two-run single.

Malepeai, Raab, Marsh and Evers-Lyles all had multiple-hit games. Karissa Avila and Erin Garcia both picked up their first hits of the season, and Avila's knock was the first of her collegiate career.

Four Hornets now have lengthy hitting streaks, including Mendoza (6 games), Marsh (5), Raab (4) and Evers-Lyles (4).

Williams (1-0), a sophomore, earned her first victory of the year, allowing just five hits and an unearned run over four innings. Alexa Ortiz locked down the win by throwing two shutout innings of relief.

Sacramento State is back next week to compete at the Mustang Classic in San Luis Obispo. The Hornets will play five games over three days (Thursday-Saturday). That includes the tournament-opening doubleheader at Cal Poly on Thursday at noon.