The Sacramento State baseball team avenged its April 4 loss against UC Davis with a 1-0 win at John Smith Field Tuesday night.

The Hornets grabbed the victory despite only getting one hit in the game and being outhit by the UC Davis Aggies, 4-1. Sac State coach Reggie Christiansen said the win was much needed after going 1-5 in the team’s last six games, including a 7-6 loss to the Aggies last week.

“We needed a win,” Christiansen said. “It was great to see the pitching do as well as they did. It was a big win for us.”

The only run of the game occurred in the second inning after Sac State sophomore right fielder James Outman hit a solo home run — his fifth of the season.

“It was a great feeling,” Outman said after he hit the home run against former high school teammate and UC Davis junior pitcher Matt Blais. “Whenever you square the ball up it’s the best feeling in the world and it feels even better against rivals you want to beat really bad.”

Junior pitcher Austin Root (1-0, 2.67 ERA) threw five scoreless innings and only allowed two hits in his first start of the season. Out of the bullpen, senior Tanner Olson, junior Ty Fox, senior Chad Perry and sophomore Alex Dentoni each pitched one inning and gave up two hits combined.

Root — who had only thrown 54 pitches after exiting the game — said he was not surprised that he had a short night on the mound.

“It was known that I was going to ease into it,” Root said. “There was no reason to push myself too hard. Each week we can push the pitch count a bit more.”

Christiansen said that while each game is equally important, the team understands the weight of beating rival UC Davis at home.

“We needed a win tonight,” Christiansen said. “Not just because it was UC Davis, but to also gain momentum heading into the weekend against New Mexico State.”

Sac State (16-16, 3-6 Western Athletic Conference) will next play against New Mexico State (20-13, 6-0 Western Athletic Conference) in a three-game series at John Smith Field starting Thursday at 6 p.m.