BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Sophomore right-hander Eli Saul dazzled on the mound in helping Sacramento State to its fourth shutout of the season, while sophomore Cesar Valero finished 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored, helping the Hornets split their Western Athletic Conference doubleheader at Seattle U on Friday at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue, Wash.

Sacramento State (10-9 overall, 2-3 in conference play) scratched across a pair of runs in the opener in support of Saul, posting a 2-0 victory and snapping a three-game skid in the process. Seattle U (5-10, 3-2) answered by scoring eight of its nine runs in the final four innings, erasing a 4-3 Hornet lead en route to a 9-5 victory in the nightcap.

Valero was one of four Sac State hitters to finish with multiple hits on the day, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate in each end of the doubleheader to help pace the offense. Nick Iwasa also finished 2-for-4 in the opener, while Jeffery Heard and Jorge Bojorquez added two hits apiece in game two. 

Should Mother Nature cooperate, the two teams face-off in the rubber game of the series on Saturday (March 19) with the first pitch for the finale scheduled for Noon at Bannerwood Park. However, the forecast calls for an 85 percent chance of rain in the area at the start of the game.

GAME 1: SACRAMENTO STATE 2, SEATTLE U 0
Sophomore right-hander Eli Saul didn't need much to help lead the Hornets to victory in the opener on Friday as the Vancouver, B.C., native struck out six and scattered only three hits over seven shutout innings as the Hornets blanked the Redhawks, 2-0.

Saul (2-0) earned his second win in as many starts, throwing 91 pitches while inducing three fly ball outs and 11 ground ball outs en route to the victory. He retired nine of 10 at one point, getting a double play to end the sixth after a one-out walk in that stretch, and allowed only one runner to reach scoring position during his time on the mound.

Max Pettey pitched the eighth, working around a one-out hit batter to retire the side and give way to closer Jack Zalasky, who was welcomed to the game by a ringing double to left before striking out the next two hitters and getting a pop-up to notch his first save of the year.

Peter Chonowski (1-3) suffered the loss, allowing a run on five hits and striking out a season-high nine batters as Seattle U could not generate any run support for him. Chronowski retired the first seven batters he faced before a single by Keith Torres in the third that led to the Hornets' first run of the day.

After a walk to Dylan McPhillips, Nick Iwasa reached on an infield singe to load the bases and Trevor Doyle cashed in the first run of the game with a ground ball to the right side for the 1-0 lead.

Sacramento State managed baserunners in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings, but could not push across an insurance run until the ninth when Cesar Valero roped a double to the gap in left center, moved to third on a ground ball to the right side and, eventually, scored on a wild pitch for the final 2-0 tally.

Valero and Iwasa each finished with two hits on the day — the former extending hit hitting streak to five games and collecting his team-high sixth multi-hit game of the year — while McPhillips reached in three of his four plate appearances with a single and a pair of walks.

GAME 2: SEATTLE U 9, SACRAMENTO STATE 5
Valero, Jorge Bojórquez, and Jeffery Heard, each finished with two hits for the game, while freshman Josh Rolling added his third home run of the season to tie the game in the seventh, but the Hornets could not contain the Seattle U offense, which scored eight of its nine runs in the final four innings en route to the 9-5 victory.

Both teams pushed across a run in the first inning with Valero drawing first blood with a double that drove home Josh Walker for a 1-0 advantage. A Derek Gellos RBI single in the home half tied the game and the Redhawks added two more in the fifth for their first lead of the day.

Sacramento State came through with a big inning of its own in the sixth to regain the lead as Heard laced an RBI double down the field field line with two on, scoring Walker to make it a one-run game, and Dawsen Bacho — playing in his first game since the Long Beach State series finale on Feb. 27 — followed with a two-run double to right for a 4-3 Hornet lead.

The back-and-forth continued as Seattle U responded with two runs of its own in the bottom half before Rolling's blast with one out in the seventh brought the Hornets level, tying the game at five apiece at the stretch.

That's when the Redhawks took control, slugging a pair of home runs off the bats of Trevor Antonson (solo) and Grant Heiser (two-run) for an 8-5 lead, and Antonson capped the scoring with an RBI double in the eighth for the final 9-5 score.

Myles Meyer (0-1) suffered the loss in relief for Sacramento State, giving up three runs on four hits in his only inning of work while striking out one. Freshman Colin Hunter earned the start, allowing three runs on six hits and striking out two over 4.2 innings in the no-decision.

Jarrod Billig (2-0) earned the win in relief for the Redhawks, charged with one run on two hits while striking out three in 1.2 innings. Alex Jemal picked up his first save of the season, allowing just one hit while striking out a pair in getting the final four outs of the game.