Today may prove to be the start of the toughest weekend of the season for the Sacramento State baseball team as they host the Third Annual River City Classic.

The Hornets come into the tournament, winners of four out of their last five, looking to continue their winning ways against prominent opponents.

The Classic is a nine team tournament hosted by UC Davis and Sac State. The tournament this year features teams from several prominent conferences including the Pacific-10 and Mountain West Conference.

Representing the Pacific-10 Conference in the Classic are Washington State and Oregon State. Washington State is currently 6-2, while Baseball America No. 8 ranked Oregon State is 3-3 trying to bounce back after losing two out of three games to No. 14 ranked Pepperdine. The Beavers who are the reigning Pac 10 champions and made it to the Super Regionals of the College World Series last season may prove to be the biggest test for the Hornets this weekend.

“We had a series against Oregon State last season, and we were in two out of the three game,” Sac State head coach John Smith said. “They will be fun to play against at home this weekend.”

Representing the Mountain West this weekend are the BYU Cougars. The Cougars (0-6) have struggled so far this season suffering back-to-back three game sweeps against Pacific and San Jose State. Other teams participating in the tournament are Portland, North Dakota State, Saint Mary’s and San Francisco.

The Hornets who were able to salvage a win against San Francisco in a three game set earlier this season, will face them again on Sunday, the final day of the Classic. Sac State’s tourney opener against North Dakota State (0-0) is scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, the Hornets face off against Portland (1-3) at 2 p.m.

“It’s a good tournament,” Smith said. “We are looking ahead to North Dakota State and taking it one game at a time.”

The Classic opens with Portland squaring off against Washington State at 10 a.m. on Thursday at Hornet Field. The UC Davis side of the tourney opens with BYU vs. Oregon State at 2 p.m.

Hornets sweep Gaels

The Hornets swept the Saint Mary’s Gaels in a three-game series. The Hornets completed the sweep with an 11-6 victory over the Gaels at Hornet Field Sunday afternoon.

The Hornet offense came up big early, posting five runs in the first inning and two in the second, easing pressure on junior left hander Mick Joyce, who allowed two runs in six innings en route to his second consecutive victory.

The Hornet offense, led by Gary Johnson, Montana Dye, Buddy Morales and Pat Keiper, was able to put up double digit runs and hits for the second consecutive game. Dye led the assault going 3-5 with 3 RBI’s and a home run, his second of the season.

Johnson continued his hot hitting going 2-4 with an RBI and a triple. Morales and Keiper both went 3-5.

The sweep featured a Hornet offensive assault that tallied 30 runs and 42 hits. Leading the charge with the sticks this weekend were Dye, Johnson, Keiper and Morales who combined to go 24-52, a .461 batting average.

Josh Oates can be reached at [email protected]