Sacramento State first baseman Brian Blauser picked the perfect time to start heating up.

Blauser’s three-run home run in the fourth inning on Saturday afternoon propelled Sac State to a 7-4 victory over the No.6 Arizona Wildcats.

Hornet pitcher Ethan Katz kept the Wildcat offense at bay for most of the game, never once relinquishing the lead his team had earned for him.

Katz struggled early on, however, as Arizona scored three runs off him in the second inning.

Chris Frey scored Jordan Brown on a groundout to shortstop, giving the Wildcats the first run of the game. Designated hitter Derek Decater then hit an opposite field, two-run home run just over the left-center field fence to put his team on top, 3-0.

The Hornets came right back the very next inning, cutting the deficit to just one.

Right fielder Jim Strombach laced a two-run double down the right field line, scoring third baseman David Flores and shortstop Everet Rincon, both of whom were running on the play.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Hornets took the lead for good.

Strombach was once again in the thick of things, sending home left fielder Josh Levin with a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the day. Second baseman Taylor Watanabe then scored Flores with an infield single, giving Sac State a one-run lead. But it was Blauser who gave the Hornets all the runs they’d need for the day, smoking a line-drive over the left field fence for a three-run home run, his third of the season.

“I had just seen a curveball, so I knew it could be coming,” said Blauser of his approach at the plate before the home run. “I’ve been trying to get deeper into the count as of late, and when I saw another curveball, I just swung and connected.”

After the Wildcats got one run in the top of the fifth off a Trevor Crowe RBI single, the Hornet relief crew shut down Arizona, and Sac State finished off the 7-4 upset.

Katz, who picked up the win for the Hornets, has now beaten nationally-ranked powerhouse Pac-10 squads, Stanford and Arizona.

“I get pumped up for these ranked teams every year, and it’s great to make a national statement like this,” Katz said.

Strombach went 2-for-3 with two doubles, and threw out a runner at third base in the top of the fifth; he’s now batting .325 for the year.

Sac State closes the Hornet Jamboree on Sunday at Hornet Field at 1 p.m. against UC Irvine.