Sacramento State baseball will host the 32nd-ranked University of San Francisco in the 2007 home opener Friday. The 0-3 Hornets look to recover from last weekend’s season-opening series sweep at the hands of Loyola Marymount. The weekend series will be three games with the first two at Hornet Field and the final game in San Francisco.

The USF Dons are coming off of their most successful season in program history. In 2006, the Dons won a school record 39 games, made their first appearance in an NCAA regional, and earned a share of the West Coast Conference championship.

“They have that program in a good position to where they’re going to have good players every year, so we know that we’re going to have our work cut out for us,” said Coach John Smith. “Right Now USF is on a roll and I would look for them to be a very tough opponent.”

USF, which was ranked 32nd in the nation in Baseball America’s preseason top 50, is predicted to finish second in the conference preseason poll.

“They’re a team that is going to be in the top two or three in the conference,” Smith said. The Hornets will likely face left-handed pitcher Aaron Poreda, who was a first-team All-WCC selection in 2006 and was named to the 2007 Roger Clemens Award watch list. The annual award is given to the nation’s top pitcher.

In the 2006 home opener, Sac State earned a 6-2 victory over the Dons, marking the club’s first win in a 1-4 start to the season. USF won the season series 3-1 by taking two over the Hornets at home and topping them once more in the River City Classic.

The first pitch is set for 2 p.m. on Friday. Saturday and Sunday’s games will begin at 1 p.m.

The Hornets lost their third consecutive game Sunday to open the season. The 8-5 loss to Loyola Marymount, 3-0, completed a three-game series sweep.

Sac State starter Trevor York was effective, spreading 8 hits through 5.2 innings and allowing two earned runs before leaving the game down 3-2.

The Hornets bullpen, which struggled all weekend, again failed to keep the Hornets in contention allowing five runs in the final two innings.

The Hornets, down 5-2 in the eighth, attempted to surge back, scoring two runs on a Patrick Cummings solo shot and a Wes Oberlin RBI single that scored David Flores.

The comeback fell short when the bullpen allowed the Lions to score three more in the bottom of the inning.

The Hornets enjoyed strong outings from all three starting pitchers in the series, but the bullpen struggled, allowing the Lions to break each game open in the later innings.

Sac State starters Alvaro Orozco, Mick Joyce and York combined for 16.1 innings of work, allowing only three earned runs over that span. LMU, however, was able to get to the bullpen, scoring 18 earned runs in just 7.2 innings.

A notable positive from the series was an excellent offensive performance by senior outfielder Montana Dye. Dye started all three games batting .500 and scored two runs for the weekend.

The Hornets will attempt to bounce back against USF this weekend with a three-game set. The Hornets will host the first two games on Friday and Saturday, and the series finale will be in San Francisco on Sunday. Mario Martin can be reached at [email protected]