Using the long ball to fuel its engine, Sac State baseball demolished San Francisco State over the weekend at Hornet Field, winning by a combined score of 31-10 in their two-game series.

On Saturday, the Hornets hit five home runs and held as large as a 17-1 lead at one point. San Francisco State would manage a few extra runs off of the Hornets? relievers, Sac State (6-6) took home the 19-6 win over the Dons (0-4).

In the last of the second inning, Daryl Grant and Mario Celillo hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning. Grant?s ball ended up in the grass in right field just short of Amador Hall. Grant hit safely in all three of his at bats.

“Daryl has been swinging the bat good all year,” said head coach John Smith of his first baseman, who also homered in Friday?s game. “People have been pitching around him.”The next batter was Dave Lusk, who walked, before catcher Joe Evans hit a towering shot down the left-field line, ending up in the fourth level of the parking garage. This put the Hornets up 5-0, and well on their way to a huge victory.

The Hornets added on three more in the top of the third inning when Evans struck again, this time with a three-run homer to put the Hornets up 8-0. Evans, who leads the Hornets with three home runs on the year, drove in five runs on the day.

“When everybody?s locked in, anything can happen,” Evans said of Sac State?s home runs.

“He is really starting to come around,” Smith said of Evans. “He is seeing the ball very well.”

The home run parade continued in the bottom of the fifth inning, as Chris Kinsey hit a bomb to left-center, making the score 11-0. Run-scoring hits by Celillo and Lusk put Sac State up by the score of 14-0. Celillo got two hits in four at bats, and drove in three runs in the game. The Hornet would build a 16 run advantage before allowing some late runs.

“We needed it (the barrage of runs),” Smith said. “It was a shot in the arm.”

Hitting wasn?t the only story of the game for the Hornets as Sac State?s starting pitcher, Jeffery Groeger, was as impressive as the hitting. He was pulled after six innings of work. He allowed one hit and one walk, giving up no runs, and striking out seven. On the season so far, Groeger is 2-1 with a 1.33 ERA. He has allowed 20 base runners in 27 innings and has 24 strikeouts.

“It is always a lot easier when the hitters are doing their job,” Groeger said. “I don?t go out there assuming anybody is going to get a hit off me.”

On Friday the Hornets? bats were out again, but pitching was half the story again.

Senior pitcher Mike Miranda went eight innings for the win, giving up seven hits and one run, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. Over the last five innings, Miranda allowed only one hit.

“Miranda is a pitcher that gets stronger as the game goes on,” Smith said. “Right now we have two guys (Miranda and Groeger) pitching very well and three or four others on the verge of being the same caliber.”

In this win, it took the Hornets? bats a few innings to get going. In the last of the fourth, down 1-0, Celillo and Lusk led off the inning with singles. After a balk moved them over, senior Cory Williams hit a two-run single up the middle to put Sac State up 2-1. Williams got two hits in four at bats and had three runs batted in.

In the last of the sixth inning, the Hornets came up with four more runs, highlighted by a two-run single by Aurelio Jackson. Jackson got two hits in the game and drove in three runs.

“We had clutch hitting all the way through,” Smith said. “We strung some hits together.” In the following inning, Grant hit a home run to straight away center field. Two batters later, Lusk hit a two-run blast to center field, putting the Hornets up 9-1.

The Hornets tacked on three more runs and held on to win 12-4.

“Against a team like this, we need to put up some runs and win some games,” Miranda said. “We need to win seven or eight in a row.”

They will go for their third straight win today as they host Hawaii at 2 p.m at Hornet Field.