Sacramento State’s bats never made the trip to Los Angeles this past weekend against UCLA, but sure welcomed them home.

After producing an average of two runs per game in a three-game series against the Bruins, the Hornets saw their offense wake up, scoring seven runs in the first two innings to defeat Creighton University, 7-2 at John Smith Field.

The Hornets started the game with four straight hits, which included doubles by Derrick Chung, Rhys Hoskins and Will Soto to drive in a combined three runs.

“We just came out ready to play,” said Hornets’ head coach Reggie Christiansen. “I think our guys had good approaches early on and got some pitches to hit.”

The offense continued into the next inning after shortstop Scotty Burcham scored on a balk by Creighton pitcher Ryan Knott. Four batters later, Trevor Paine doubled in the gap to give Sac State the early 7-0 lead.

With three hits in his previous four games, Paine said he has been working hard during his time in the batting cages.

“I’ve been working on my pitch selection and trying to focus on hitting the ball the other way because that is where my strength is,” Paine said. “I was trying to get a pitch out over the plate and put a good swing on it.”

Sac State looked to Dallas Chadwick to make his first start of the season but was able to face just four batters until he left the game with a left oblique injury.

“When he went to field a bunt and throw to second base he felt a twinge,” Christiansen said.

With Chadwick taken out, Christiansen used a combination of six different pitchers to complete the game, including three innings from junior Tyler Hoelzen, who eventually got the win.

Hoelzen said whenever you are in the bullpen, you have to be ready to go at any time.

“When the starter gets knocked out in the first inning or so you have to have that mind set where you are that guy who will pick up your team,” Hoelzen said. “I was a starter all through junior college so I know what it is like to start a baseball game.”

The bullpen was able to shut Creighton out the final five innings, not giving up a single hit and striking out five.

Even though the Hornets snapped a four game losing streak, Christiansen said his team learned a lot from the three-game series against a top ranked team in UCLA.

“I think we just need to get over the hump,” Christiansen said. “We need to play better against the better teams on our schedule and it shows where we have to get to.”

The Hornets next will travel down to Southern California to start a three-game series against UC Riverside starting Friday at 6 p.m.

Ryan Kuhn can be reached at @rskuhn