SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Sacramento State earned eight walks in the season opener leading the Hornets to a 6-1 win over the UC Santa Barbara baseball team. Junior second baseman Marcos Castanon was a bright spot on the day for the Gauchos going two-for-four with a homerun.

Sophomore south paw Rodney Boone took the bump for the Gauchos to kick off the 2020 season and collected five strikeouts in his three innings of work. He would finish having allowed only three hits but his four walks led to four earned runs.

The Hornets got going in the first inning capitalizing on a pair of walks to drive in the first run of the game. Matt Smith collected an RBI single to put his team up 1-0. Three more would cross in the third to give Sac State a commanding 4-0 lead on the back of two wild pitches by Boone.

The top of the Sac State lineup did all the damage with its first four batters collecting all six runs.

The lone score for UCSB came in the fourth when Castanon stepped to the plate and led off the frame with a homer over the left field wall. He would reach first on an error ion the sixth and collect a single in the eighth.

The Hornets would add two more in the 7th claiming a 6-1 lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.

Freshman pitcher Ryan Harvey made his college debut Friday night coming in in relief for Boone in the fourth. He would complete 3.2 innings giving up just one hit and collecting four strikeouts, but gave a pair of earned runs. Junior Josh Candau would finish the game for UCSB pitching 1.1 innings and allowing just one hit.

On the offensive end McClain O'Connor, Cole Cummings, and Steele Ledford each collected a hit on the day.

UCSB is back at tomorrow in the second game of the series with Sacramento State. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.