Spring can officially begin. Sacramento State’s baseball team had its home-opener Saturday afternoon against the Gaels of Saint Mary’s College.

The game was pretty close through three innings. Then Sac State scored five runs in the fourth inning thanks to back-to-back home runs by Center Fielder Tim Wheeler and Designated Hitter Justin Lamb.

The Hornets routed Saint Mary’s 14-2. “It was the answer to the three-week road trip, ” said Head Coach John Smith.

“We were playing at home, playing in front of our fans, it’s the first time we got to sleep in our own beds and come to the yard the next day and play.”

Sac State Pitcher Brandon Sandoval came out throwing spectacularly, setting down the Gaels’ first three batters on only 11 pitches. This would set the stage for the rest of the afternoon in Hornet Field.

Sac State kept the foot on the peddle in the fifth inning with another five runs. Wheeler hit his second of three home runs on the day and shortstop Derrick Chung hit a beautiful line drive into right field for two more runs to make the score 13-1 in favor of the Hornets.

“(We) just kept driving the stake in their heart,” Smith said, “from that point on (Saint Mary’s) kind of folded up the tent, so to speak.”

Sandoval improved as the game went on. He struck out two out of his last three batters. “I just stuck to my game plan,” Sandoval said.

“We got a good scouting report on these guys so we just stuck to the plan and it worked out good.”

Sandoval had a great game. He pitched six innings, gave up five hits, had four strikeouts, three walks and just one run for the victory.

Even though it cleared out the bench in the final stanza of the game, Jedd Soto’s Saint Mary’s squad did not give up.

The Gaels scored a run in the eighth inning but it was too little too late for Saint Mary’s. Sandoval handed the ball over to Sac State’s closer Nick Buchta who quickly ended any chance of a Saint Mary’s comeback for the save.

Wheeler had eight runs batted in the game, which is tied for the second most in a game in school history.

“That is not something you try for but when it happens it is really cool. Today things just kind of fell into place,” Wheeler said.

As for his three home runs: “I was seeing the ball big. Any time you hit like this the ball kind of pops a little bit, gives you a better shot at seeing it,” Wheeler said.

Lamb (3-5), Second Baseman Hunter Martinez (3-5) and Third Baseman/Catcher Josh Powers (2-3) had monster games at the plate for Sac State.

“It has just been rough going on the road and playing,” Smith said, “to come out here and play the way we did is a tribute to our team to rebound from the adversity we have had to go through.”

With the win the Hornets are now 2-7 overall. The team does not start conference play until April 3 at New Mexico State.

Sac State will host Saint Mary’s again at 2:05 p.m.on Tuesday where the team will look to build its first winning streak of the early season.

“It just felt good to get a win under our belt. Hopefully we can start (a winning) tradition and start winning some more games,” Sandoval said.

Andrew Hazard can be reached at [email protected]