GREELEY, Colo. -- Sacramento State combined for 15 runs, 21 hits and a .382 batting average on the way to a doubleheader split at Northern Colorado on Friday afternoon. The Bears won the first game, 8-5, before the Hornets came back to take the nightcap by a 10-2 score.

With the split, the Hornets improved to 22-12 overall and 1-1 in the Big Sky as today marked the first conference games of the season for both Sacramento State and Northern Colorado. The two teams complete the three-game series with a single game tomorrow at 11 a.m. PT.

Multiple offensive players had a big day for the Hornets. That includes Lafulafu Malepeai and Saskia Raab who both combined for four hits. Malepeai clubbed her team-high 12th home run, and was a double shy of the cycle in Game 2 where she went 3-for-4 with three runs and three RBIs. 

Raab was the only Hornet to have multiple hits in both games as she went 2-for-4 in each contest. She was one of three Hornets to homer in the opening game, joining Madi Mendoza and Faith Epperson. For Epperson, it marked the outfielder's first round tripper at the Div. I level. 

Erin Garcia had a hit in both pinch hitting appearances, Epperson combined for three hits, and Karissa Avila, Shannon Garcia and Madison Evers-Lyles had two hits apiece. The Hornets had a .655 slugging percentage and .419 on-base percentage over the two games.

Kennedie Bacon (6-4) earned the win for the Hornets in Game 2, tossing a complete game. She allowed just five hits and two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts. A trio of Sacramento State pitchers were used in Game 1, and Keeli Smith worked two innings of shutout relief in the loss.

Sacramento State was also a combined 6-for-6 in stolen base opportunities, including two bags for Malepeai. 

Of the 14 innings played, Sacramento State scored in eight of those frames. That included multiple runs on five occasions. In Game 2, the Hornets scored four runs in the first and two more in the second to jump out a 6-0 lead.