SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento State scored four runs in the seventh inning, coming from behind to defeat the visiting Pacific Tigers, 8-5, Monday at John Smith Field.

Winners of four straight, Sacramento State is 5-2 overall to start the season. Pacific drops to 3-2 overall.

Monday night's game was a late addition to Sacramento State's schedule as the Hornets and Tigers agreed Sunday morning to play Monday night. The game followed what was supposed to be a four-game weekend series between the two teams.

For the first time in the last four games, Sacramento State did not score first as Pacific jumped ahead to a 1-0 lead with a first-inning home run. The blast came off the bat of the Tigers' designated hitter, Jeremy Lea, his first of the season. 

It didn't take long for the Hornets to answer. With two outs and two runners in on the second inning, freshman centerfielder Jack Bollengier singled home two to put the Hornets ahead, 2-1. Including this past weekend's series against Texas State, Bollengier has had quite a few days, hitting .333 (4-for-12) with five walks and four RBI.

Pacific countered right away as the team's continued to trade leads, scoring three times in the top of the third inning. All three of the innings' runs were charged to Hornets starter Rylan Tinsley. Making his first start of the season, Tinsley tossed just two innings and allowed four runs on two hits and four walks while striking out three.

Trailing 4-2 in the fourth inning, Martin Vincelli-Simard came through with a screaming two-run home run to tie the game at four. The home run, Simard's team-leading third of the season, went to near straight away center.

In seven games (four starts), Simard is hitting .357 (5-14) with three home runs and a double. The sophomore designated hitter is slugging an incredible 1.071 through the season's first seven games.

After a scoreless fifth inning, Pacific again reclaimed the lead thanks to some strange happenings on the field. After hitting the leadoff man with a pitch, Hornets reliever Travis Martizia was called for a balk, putting a runner on second with nobody out. Martizia got the next batter to hit a soft grounder toward second base, but Sacramento State's second baseman Dylan McPhillips collided with the second base umpire and the ball dribbled into centerfield, allowing the runner to score the go-ahead run, 5-4.

Things looked like they might get worse from there after Pacific put two runners on with nobody out in the top of the seventh. Hornets reliever Brady Rodriguez, who started the inning by putting two on, struck out the next two batters before turning things over to Jack Zalasky.

Zalasky picked up where Rodriguez left off, striking out the first batter he faced to end the inning and the threat. 

The scoreless inning was just what the Hornets offense needed to come back to life. Sacramento State's bats made noise at the right time, scoring four runs in the seventh inning as the team came from behind to take a commanding 8-5 lead.

With one on and one out, the Hornets turned to pinch hitter Chris Gonzalez, who smashed a triple into the right-center gap to drive in the tying run. Two batters later, it was pinch hitter Dawsen Bacho driving a double off the wall in straight away center to score Gonzalez and put the Hornets ahead, 6-5.

Bacho scored moments later on a Jorge Bojorquez two-out base hit and the inning was capped on a misplayed fly ball in right field off the bat of Ryan Walstad, allowing Bojorquez to score the game's final run. 

After Zalasky pitched a scoreless eighth, it was Hornets closer Stone Churby coming in yet again for the ninth. After a leadoff double and a wild pitch to put a runner at third with nobody out, Churby proceeded to strike out the side to end the game and collect his third save of the season.

Zalasky earned the win for his performance Monday night, his first of the season, while Pacific's Landon Curtis fell to 0-2.

On the mound, Sacramento State used six pitchers in Monday's win, including freshmen Wesley Harper, who threw two scoreless innings. Behind Tinsley and Harper, it was the bullpen's core four – Rodriguez, Martizia, Zalasky, and Churby – to close things out.

The six pitchers combined to allow eight hits and five walks while striking out 12. 

At the plate, Sacramento State's eight runs on 10 hits matched its season-high for both. Three of those 10 hits came off the bat of Ryan Walstad, who finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Vincelli-Simard had two RBI on his third home run of the year and Keith Torres (2-for-5) had his first multi-hit game of the season.

Monday's win was the Hornets third come-from-behind victory this season and the team's fourth win in a row. They'll look to extend that streak this weekend with a challenging four-game set at Santa Clara. 

That series gets underway Thursday night at Santa Clara's Stephen Schott Stadium. First pitch on Thursday is set for 6 p.m. and the game will stream live on the WCC Network. Links to live video streams, live stats, and more are available online on HornetSports.com.