The Sacramento State baseball team beat the No. 17 Stanford Cardinal 5-3 Tuesday afternoon at Hornet Field; it is the second time in a week the Hornets have downed a ranked Pac-10 team. The Hornets beat the No. 12 California Bears in Berkeley by a score of 12-6 last Tuesday.

With the win the Hornets improved their season record to 6-14 while the loss dropped Stanford’s record to 10-6.

“The way (the Hornets) played today is the way they are capable of playing everyday, but they haven’t been doing that,” Hornet coach John Smith said. “This is a good baseball team. It does have talent. To be 5-14 was an injustice to (the players).”

Stanford took the lead when it scored all three of its runs in the top of the fourth inning. Junior first baseman Brent Milleville drove in the first run on a fielder’s choice groundout, scoring senior designated hitter Randy Molina. Junior right fielder Jeff Whitlow capped off the inning with a two-run home run to left-center field, his first of the season, off of Hornet senior pitcher Alvaro Orozco.

The Hornets answered back right away, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and three more in the bottom of the fifth inning. Junior Gabe Jacobo’s two-run home run to right-center field in the fourth inning was his fourth of the year. In the fifth inning senior third baseman David Flores hit a two-run double and sophomore center fielder Tim Wheeler added an RBI single.

The Hornets’ two through five hitters went a combined 7 for 15 and drove in all five of Sac State’s runs.

“We have to have them to get going,” junior pitcher Nick Buchta said. “If they’re not rolling then we’re not left with much? the team kind of revolves around a couple of guys and if those guys are positive and they’re going then we’ll all go.”

Hornet senior starting pitcher Cory Weglin threw the first thee innings without allowing a run while striking out two. Orozco allowed the three runs in the fourth inning, but settled down after that. He followed it with two scoreless innings, earning the win and improving his record to 3-0 for the season.

“It was great. (The pitchers) came out and set the tempo from the first inning? they gave up any (runs) and we answered right back,” Wheeler said.

Buchta came in and closed the door on the Cardinal, throwing three scoreless innings. He struck out four in the process while only giving up one hit, earning his first save of the season.

“Personally I needed a confidence boost,” Buchta said. “I know I can do stuff like that and it was just a matter of time. It’s not like I lost it, but next outing I know I can go out and do that.”

The Hornets will host the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors for a four-game series that starts at 2 p.m. Friday at Hornet Field.

Andrew Eggers can be reached at [email protected]