SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Senior Jace Jeremiah reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances on the night and the Sacramento State bullpen was lights out with nine strikeouts over six innings of work, but the Hornets could not dig out of an early hole, falling to Pacific by a 5-3 score on Friday night at John Smith Field.

The Tigers scored once in the first, three times in the second, and once in the third to stake starter Zach Todd to an early lead, but Sacramento State chased him after only four innings and 89 pitches, working the right-hander for a pair of hits and four walks.

Senior Luis Pimentel-Guerrero broke up the shutout and got the Hornets on the board in the third with two outs as Sam Harry drew one of his two walks on the night and was followed by a free pass issued to Erick Dessens. That brought up Pimentel-Guerrero, who lined a 1-1 pitch into centerfield to score Harry and make it 5-1. 

The bullpen then went to work after starter Kurt Marton (1-2) was pulled after only three innings as Jackson Halverson threw two hitless shutout innings, striking out a career-high four, followed by Konner Entz and his two shutout innings, and two more from Andrew Monson, who allowed two hits and struck out three. The trio combined to strand five Pacific baserunners, two of those in scoring position.

In the meantime, Sacramento State got a run closer on Jamie Mullin's sacrifice fly in the sixth and Cameron Sewell added an RBI ground out in the eighth, but that's where the Hornets' comeback attempt ended. They ended the night stranding seven on base, including runners at the corners with two outs in the fifth and runners in scoring position in the third and sixth frames.

Ethan Shaver (1-1) earned the win in relief for the Tigers, allowing just one run on three hits in his lone inning of work in the fifth before giving way to Carson Revay, who picked up his third save of the year by pitching the final four innings, allowing a run without the benefit of a hit, walking one and striking out three.

The scene shifts to Stockton, Calif., for games two and three on the weekend beginning Saturday (March 14) at 3 p.m. at Klein Family Field on the Pacific campus.