At long last Erin Coyne got a chance to hit and make contact with a pitch, scorched it too.

After being hit three times over two games on Saturday afternoon, the senior catcher was anxious to put the bat on the ball and in the sixth inning of nightcap of a double-header with San Diego, Coyne smashed a ball to deep left field that looked like it might clear the fence — until the wind, which was gusting, knocked it down and the would-be home run turned into a fly ball out.

“I just knew that would happen,” said Coyne who was admittedly in her home run trot on her way to first base.

The Sacramento State softball team wouldn’t need that run, however, as it won game two of the double-header 5-2 after losing the first game 2-0 in eight innings.

“It’s always good to bounce back after some tough losses instead of rolling over and dying,” junior center fielder Lindy Winkler said.

Winkler combined to go 4-for-8 Saturday, including a run and an RBI in game two, improved her team-leading batting average to .377 for the season.

Junior pitcher Nikki Cinque went the distance in game two and scattered seven hits while allowing two earned runs.

Game one was a pitcher’s duel as Hornet starter Brianne Ferguson and San Diego pitcher Erin Harmonson shut down the other’s hitters through the first seven until the Toreros broke through in extra innings.

Ferguson gave up back-to-back singles to Rebekah Bradford and Ashlee Nunes to open the eighth inning and both were driven in on RBI singles from Kathleen Bonja and Kim Delpit.

The Hornets had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the inning with back-to-back two-out singles from Winkler and Coyne, but freshman first baseman Teri Ann Caoagan popped up to end the game.

With the split, the Hornets are now 2-4 in Pacific Coast Softball Conference play and are 19-17 overall, while San Diego — which entered with an undefeated league record — is now 5-1 in the PCSC and 15-13 overall.

“We can’t focus on winning a conference championship right now,” Hornet coach Kathy Strahan said. “We’re not doing the little things right now.

“We need to focus on putting a decent ball game together, pitch by pitch.”