When the Sacramento State baseball team’s season schedule came out last year, two dates were circled in big, bold ink: March 25 and 26.

These two ordinarily nondescript March dates were now some of the biggest days for Hornet baseball: a two-game series against perennially-ranked Stanford.

Two games don’t usually make much of a dent in a season in which Sac State will play roughly 60, but these two games stand for a lot more than just wins or losses in the standings.

Hornet senior pitcher Ethan Katz knows this, and after pitching Sac State to a 2-1 victory over then-No.2 Stanford in a stunning upset last season, Katz realized that on Friday night, it was his chance to prove last year’s tremendous performance wasn’t just a fluke.

Katz did just that, shutting down a potent Cardinal offense — an offense that hung eight runs on the Hornets the next day — for the 4-3 victory over No. 12 Stanford, allowing only two runs on three hits in eight innings Friday night at Sunken Diamond.

The feat was not statistically on par with last season’s complete game, but what it lacked in numbers it made up for in significance.

The gem ended a seven-game losing streak and gave them a much-needed victory on the road.

After the victory, Katz, reflecting on both of his performances against Stanford, sounded like a man who’d love to see the Cardinal as many times as possible this season.

“When the schedules came out and I saw some ranked opponents on there, I got real fired up,” Katz said. “We all look forward to playing teams like Stanford because these games are huge for us.

“Hopefully this win will jump start us in the right direction.”

With the victory, the Hornets have now beaten one of the nation’s best teams two years in a row, something that adds to the mystery that surrounds the team’s puzzling identity.

So far this season, Sac State’s propensity to upset powerhouses like Stanford juxtaposes the team’s inability to beat lesser teams at home and on the road.

The strange trend is something the team has come to terms with, but no one has a definitive answer to explain it.

“If I knew the secret, I’d be a genius!” Smith said. “It’s just the mindset of our team; we get up for these tougher opponents, but not others. It’s a frustrating thing we have to overcome, but Friday’s win is a good start.

“Success breeds success.”

As for the final leg of the two-game series on Saturday, the Hornets lost to the Cardinal 8-2, in front of a boisterous crowd hoping to see a repeat of last year’s thrilling upset.

Stanford wouldn’t have any of it as it pounced on the Hornets early for six runs in the first and never looked back, cruising to victory.

The Hornets open a three game home-away-home series with UC Davis at 2 p.m. on Friday at Hornet Field.

The series moves to Davis at 1 p.m. Saturday and returns to Hornet field at 1 p.m. Sunday.

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Josh Cadji can be reached at [email protected]