Sacramento State baseball lost to UC Davis 10-5 in a dominant performance by the Aggies on Tuesday before they head into the weekend for conference play.

Even with the loss, Sac State had two big performances by sophomore first baseman JP Smith and senior outfielder Cesar Valero. Smith had a homer in the first and eighth and Valero hit a follow-up home run after Smith in the first and a two-run home run in the fifth to tie the game 4-4.

This wasn’t enough as the Aggies had rallied back, scoring in the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth inning to expand their lead and overtake the Hornets.

In the fourth, UC Davis would come back to take a 4-2 lead after a two-run double by sophomore infielder Joey Wright to score freshman outfielder Tyler Howard and junior catcher Riley Acosta.

UC Davis put the pressure on the Hornets by bunting and drawing errors on the defense, with a home run from junior first baseman Ethan Felix to cap off the eighth.

Even with a homer from Smith in the eighth, UC Davis would increase their lead, scoring two runs in the ninth, capped off with a double by junior infielder Nick Leehey.

Sac State could not break through UC Davis’ pitching and would be shut down in the bottom of the ninth for a sorrowful ending, with three straight flyouts to the infield.

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“We’re gonna have to make some adjustments,” Sac State head coach Reggie Christiansen said. “Offensively it’s not been very good today.”

Christiansen said that along with the offense, the defense and pitching had faltered significantly since their last game.

“We need to play better baseball in all three phases of the game,” Christiansen said. “We need to pitch, play defense and swing the bat better.”

Smith said he wants the team and himself to do better going forward.

“We needed to win,” Smith said. “It sucks. But we need to take it with a grain of salt and get back to the winning part. That’s what’s more important to me.”

Smith said he agreed with Christiansen on what they need to improve on to win games from now on.

Valero said he was saddened by the way the team performed and has an idea for how the team can improve for this coming weekend.

“Honestly, if we stick to the approach as a team and not care about anything else but winning the game,” Valero said. “Nothing matters unless we win the game at the end of the day.”

Valero believes this will come to fruition because of the support he has from his team and how they’ve dug their way out of holes before.

“I got a lot of belief in my teammates,” Valero said. “At the end of the day, non-conference play is over. We have to play with some grit, some anger and these games matter going forward.”

Sac State will have their first series of WAC conference play against Utah Valley University at John Smith Field starting Friday, at 2 p.m.