STEPHENVILLE, Texas - Tarleton State Baseball (11-16) fell in their conference opener to the Sacramento State Hornets (15-10) on Friday at the Tarleton Baseball Complex, 8-4.

The Hornets snapped the Texans' four-game win streak against them, which dated back to last season. Friday's matchup also marked the ninth battle between the two squads. Each team registered 11 hits and five strikeouts apiece. The Hornets did not record an error while the Texans had two.

Jake Burcham received the start for the Purple and White, putting away his first six batters and tallying two strikeouts in the first two innings. The Hornets remained scoreless until the third inning when Elie Kligman got to second base on an error and was later scored via a sacrifice fly.

The game would remain at 1-0 until the fourth frame when Sacramento State tacked on another run thanks to two hits from JP Smith and Kligman. The Texans were unable to respond in the bottom of the fourth despite a single from Hunter Smith, which marked his second straight hit of the game.

Lane Brewster helped turn things around for the Purple and White in the fifth stanza, blasting a lead-off double to right field. Brewster was then drove in via an RBI single from Slade McCloud. This marked McCloud's 38th hit of the season, a team high. This series of hits from the two seniors brought the Texans within just one run after five innings of baseball.

The Hornets would go on to put up three runs in the sixth stanza. JP Smith drew a hit-by-pitch to start the inning, followed by a single from Cameron Sewell to advance him to second. After a pitching substitution from the Texans, Jakob Poturnak hit a three-run home run to make it a 5-1 ballgame.

The Texans wouldn't quit without a fight, putting up two runs on three hits during the bottom of the sixth inning. Jaime Perez was hit by a pitch to start things off, followed by a single from Tyson Drake. Smith launched an RBI single to notch his third hit while also scoring Perez for Tarleton State's second run of the ballgame. Brewster capped off the inning with a double that scored Drake, achieving his second extra-base hit to cut the Hornets' lead to two.

Sacramento State tacked on two more runs in the seventh inning to keep the Texans away. Two flyouts and a groundout would hold the Purple and White scoreless in the bottom of the seventh. Ryan Christiansen then recorded a lead-off home run for the Hornets in the eighth frame to give them an 8-3 lead.

Despite a late ninth inning rally from the Texans that included a series of hits from McCloud, Carson Lorch and Morrison, Tarleton State was unable to come back and eventually dropped their conference opener, 8-4.

The Purple and White will look to bounce back tomorrow in game two of their three-game stint against the Hornets. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Get tickets here.