Powered by the red-hot bats of Chris Kinsey, Mikela Olsen and Jesse Schmidt, the Sacramento State (16-14) baseball team won two-of-three against the University of Pacific Tigers (19-12) in last weekend’s road-home-road series.

“These are legitimate damage guys,” head coach John Smith said of his three-through-five hitters. “You can’t pitch to just one of them.”

Unfortunately, the middle of the Hornets’ lineup wasn’t enough to compensate for the struggling bottom half of the order as Sac State dropped Friday’s series opener 5-4 at Billy Hebert Field in Stockton.

Sacramento’s six-through-nine hitters went just 1-for-13 on Friday as the Hornets blew an early three-run lead.

Olsen and Schmidt hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, but Pacific tagged Sac State starter Renecke Stelzriede for five runs in five innings of work.

The Hornets mounted a rally in the seventh, down 5-3, as Everet Rincon’s RBI single pulled Sacramento within one and put runners on first and second, but Olsen grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Stelzriede (2-2), who took the loss Friday, recently replaced Chris Kinsey in the starting rotation, while Kinsey took over Stelzriede’s closer role.

“As a starter, Chris doesn’t get to do all the things good pitchers need to do,” said Smith of the change. “We’ve had trouble holding leads, and he can be devastating late because he doesn’t have to hold back.”

In Saturday’s game, Kinsey came out to shut the door on the Tigers, pitching two hitless innings to earn his third save of the season in Sac State’s 7-5 victory at Hornet Field.

Kinsey also hit a two-run homer in the first inning Saturday, his fifth on the season, to inch closer to the all-time Hornet home run record.

The record is 35 homers, and Saturday’s blast leaves Kinsey just seven homers shy of that mark. “I’m just trying to hit the ball hard,” said Kinsey.

But Saturday’s contest was all about Mikela Olsen. With the team down two, the switch-hitting junior hit a three-run homer off Tiger reliever Jason Godkin in the seventh inning to put the Hornets in front for good.

“He led me off with a fastball, and I just knew another one was coming,” Olsen said. “I told myself: ‘Be early, load up and hit it the other way.'”

Olsen is hitting .419 and leads the team with 10 home runs and 39 RBI in 104 at-bats — eye-popping stats in any league. Saturday, he once again proved that he’s also comfortable hitting in the clutch.

“As a player, you love to hit in those situations,” Olsen said. “There’s nothing better.”

Sac State and Pacific traveled back to Stockton for Sunday’s series finale, where Hornet senior Steve Cuckovich (4-1) pitched his first career shutout in a 5-0 Sac State victory.

Cuckovich allowed only five hits and two walks in his first-ever complete game, and Kinsey and Olsen supplied the offense by going 3-for-5.

The Hornets played in Berkeley against Cal on Tuesday, but results weren’t available before press time. Sac State kicks off its three-game series against Cal State Hayward this Friday at 2:30 p.m. at Hornet Field.

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