Sacramento State lost its fifth straight game Sunday to the University of San Francisco at the College of San Mateo. The 0-5 Hornets were defeated by an 8-4 mark and are still searching for their first victory of the season.

The 3-2 Dons jumped on the Hornets’ starting pitcher Alvaro Orozco early, scoring a run in the second inning before breaking the game open with five more in the third. Four of the five runs in the inning came across with two outs. Orozco, who took the loss, went three innings and allowed six runs on seven hits. The loss drops him to 0-2 on the year.

Dons’ junior third baseman Brian Chavez led the offensive assault, going 4-4 with three RBIs and a run scored. His two RBI doubles in the third with two outs made the score 4-1 and created breathing room for the Dons. Junior first baseman Mitchell Bialosky followed Chavez in the lineup and drove him in with a two-run homer, putting San Francisco up 6-1. That was all they would need to win the game.

Despite losing their fifth consecutive game, the Hornets continued to be impressive at the plate. As a team, they hit .353 for the game, led by senior Patrick Cummins, who went 3-5 with an RBI and a run in his designated hitter role. Cummins now leads the team in hitting with a .500 batting average.

Senior pitcher Mick Joyce continued to shine in his second appearance of the year and first in relief. Joyce, who came into the game in the fourth, allowed just two hits and a run in 3 innings of relief. The run scored marked the first earned run that Joyce has surrendered all season, but he still leads all starters with a 1.00 ERA.

Sunday’s game was the finale of an originally scheduled three-game series against San Francisco. The first two games at Hornet Field were canceled due to unplayable weather conditions. Sunday’s game was played at the College of San Mateo because of construction that is taking place at San Francisco’s home field.

The Hornets hope to finally play their first game at Hornet Field on Friday when the South Dakota State Jackrabbits come to town.

The Jackrabbits (1-2) are coming off their second season in the Division I Independent Conference in which they compiled a record of 23-29. It was also their second year of Division I-A competition.

The most notable returning starters for the Jackrabbits are junior right fielder Nick Adams and his classmate, first baseman Tyson Fisher. Adams hit .308 with 35 runs scored and tied a school record with seven triples in 2006. Fisher is coming off an outstanding offensive season leading all everyday players in hitting with a .363 batting average. He also led the team in home runs with nine and RBIs with 48.

Fisher is a Fortuna native, so his visit to northern California will be a return home.

The Jackrabbits were able to pull out a 6-5 victory in their opener Saturday against Big 12 power Kansas University. The victory over the Jay Hawks was an impressive one since Kansas is the defending Big 12 tournament champion. SDSU went on to lose the final two games of the three-game set.

Weather permitting, Friday’s game against SDSU will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s games have scheduled start times of 1 p.m.