Sacramento State sophomore outfielder Cesar Valero torched Houston Baptist University on Friday, going  5-5 with three home runs and a triple in a 21-4 Hornet blowout win.

In his first season with Sac State after transferring out of Oregon State, Valero now has six home runs on the year.

Valero had one of the most impressive offensive performances in school history as his three home runs tied a Sac State record, his five hits was one short of the school record of six. Valero was just a double short of the cycle, and Valero’s ten RBIs were the most in Sac State history.

“Not a word I can describe it with other than insane,” sophomore infielder Jorge Bojorquez said. Bojorquez went 1-3 with two walks Friday. 

“He just brings an energy,” he said. ”He loves to be out there and there’s not a guy who deserves it more than him.”

With the win, the Hornets moved to 8-1 after losing their first game against UC Berkeley on Tuesday.

 It was a windy day in Sacramento at John Smith Field, as Valero is unsure if he would have had three home runs if not for the hitter-friendly wind on Friday.

“I mean it felt good, I’m not going to lie and say it felt bad, the big man upstairs helped me out with some wind today,” Valero said.  “I know the wind helped.”

It wasn’t just Valero locked in for Sac State, however as senior Nick Iwasa went 3-3 with a walk, scoring three runs and junior outfielder Trevor Doyle added a three-run triple and a walk. 

“It normally doesn’t blow like that here, I think we took advantage of it,” Sac State manager Reggie Christiansen said. We got some balls up in the air early on and Cesar swung the bat really good too.” Everything went the way of the Hornets on Friday; the 21 runs were a season-high for Sac State who scored a combined 13 runs in the last four games while going 3-1 over that stretch.

Starting pitcher sophomore Eli Saul pitched into the fourth inning, allowing three earned runs before turning things over to the bullpen. From there sophomore Wesley Harper and freshmen Tyler Stewart, Brock Jessup, and Myles Meyer pitched the final four innings for the Hornets, not allowing a run, and giving up just two total baserunners combined. 

The game was scheduled to go a full nine innings, but the ten-run rule was enforced after seven.

Friday’s game was the first of a four-game series. The Hornets and Huskies will return to action for a Saturday double-header for games two and three, starting at 1:00 p.m. at John Smith Field.