After struggling through four road losses to open the season, Sacramento State’s baseball team got on the winning track Sunday with a 6-2 victory over the visiting San Francisco Dons. The game was the finale of a three-game series, in which the Hornets lost the first two games in San Francisco.

Timely hitting and costly San Francisco errors and walks on Sunday provided enough offense for the Hornets who, behind the solid pitching performance of junior left-hander Mick Joyce, were able to put the Dons away for their first win of the season.

“Anytime you win it’s a big win,” Sac State head coach John Smith said after the game. “The first four games on the road compounds things, so winning back at home is important.”

The Hornets held an early 2-1 lead in the contest and were able to break things open in the sixth, capitalizing on a San Francisco walk, a hit batsman and a wild pitch, all with the bases loaded, that brought in three runs. Taylor Watanabe put the exclamation point on the scoring with a sacrifice fly to left that gave the Hornets a 6-1 lead that proved to be enough for the Hornet victory.

“We struggled in these scoring situations the first four games,” Smith said. “When it comes to runs, you take ’em how you get ’em.”

In his second start of the season, Joyce gave up only three hits and one run in seven innings for the Hornets.

“Joyce made things less taxing on the pen,” Smith said. “San Francisco has good hitters, so it is a tribute to Mick. It was really an outstanding performance.”

Pat Keiper led the Hornets with three hits, while Buddy Morales and Montana Dye each had two hits and a run.

In the previous two games, the Hornets were outscored 21-10 by San Francisco. The team lost Friday’s series opener 11-5 despite a solid hitting performance from senior Brian Blauser, who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and scored two runs. Blauser hit his first home run of the season and the eighth of his career.

Pitcher Travis Kane took the loss the first game. Kane (0-1) pitched 41??3 innings, allowing six runs runs(five earned) on 10 hits, while walking two.

In Game 2, Sac State fell 10-5 to the Dons on Saturday. Blauser had another solid day going 2-for-4 and scoring one run. Watanabe went 3-for-5, driving in one run. Second baseman Gary Johnson went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

One of the contributing factors in both losses during the series was not driving in runners. Sac State left a total of 16 runners on base in the two games.

Pitcher Matt Campbell took the loss dropping to 0-2 on the season. Campbell pitched 41??3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits, while walking five.

Sac State finished the first week of the season with a 1-4 record. They open up a three-game set against the Saint Mary’s Gaels this weekend.

The Hornets will look to avenge a 9-3 defeat suffered at the hands of the Gaels on Feb. 7. The games this weekend against the Gaels are scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Sunday at Sac State, and a 1 p.m. game Saturday at Saint Mary’s.

Josh Oates can be reached at [email protected]