LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Cesar Valero led-off the 10th inning with his second home run of the year to break a scoreless deadlock and right-hander Jack Zalasky nailed down the victory with three ground balls in the bottom half of the frame, lifting Sacramento State to a 1-0 upset of No. 6-ranked Long Beach State on Friday night at Bohl Diamond at Blair Field in Long Beach.

The Hornets improve to 5-0 with the win, giving Head Coach Reggie Christiansen his 450th career victory as a head coach and marking the program's best start since opening the 1990 campaign with five consecutive wins. It was only the sixth win in the history of the series with the Dirtbags and the first against Long Beach State since a 4-0 road win on April 7, 2001, snapping a four-game skid in the overall series.

After the two teams matched one another zero for zero through nine, it was Valero's long ball that finally broke the seal in the 10th as the sophomore outfielder sent a pitch from reliever Dalton Ponce (0-1) over the wall in left centerfield for the 1-0 lead. Dawsen Bacho followed with a walk, but Ponce worked away from any further damage, striking out the next three hitters to keep it a one-run game.

Working around a one-out single in the ninth that ended with Bacho erasing Chase Luttrell trying to steal second, Zalasky made quick work of Long Beach State in the 10th, getting three ground balls to the left side to end it, improving to 2-0 overall on the year. Zalasky allowed only the lone hit while striking out a pair.

Hornet starter Eli Saul ended with a no-decision in a stellar showing against one of the nation's top teams, throwing 7.2 innings of shutout baseball, scattering just four hits, walking one, and striking out a career-high nine in the no decision, with only one of the four hits going for extra bases. He retired eight of the first nine batters he faced before stranding a pair in the fourth.

Senior left-hander Brady Rodriguez struck out Eddie Saldivar to end the eighth before giving way to Zalasky. All told, Sacramento State pitchers combined to allow only six baserunners on the night, stranding four — two of those in scoring position.

After managing just two hits and three baserunners over the first five innings, Sacramento State turned up the heat over the next four frames, putting a pair on in the sixth through ninth innings only to be turned away before Valero's big hit in the 10th. Jorge Bojorquez, Jeffery Heard, and Gunner Gouldsmith, each finished with a pair of hits, and Nick Iwasa added a sixth-inning single, helping Sacramento State out-hit Long Beach State, 8-5, on the night.

The two teams meet for game two of the series on Saturday (Feb. 26) at 3 p.m., with Hornet freshman left-hander Noah Lucchesi scheduled to face the Dirtbags' Marques Johnson.