BATON ROUGE, La. (Interstat) — Cameron Sewell’s grand slam in the eighth inning broke open a scoreless pitchers’ duel and propelled the Sacramento State Hornets to a 5-4 victory over the LSU Tigers on Saturday at Alex Box Stadium/Skip Bertman Field.

The Hornets (4-10), heavy underdogs after a 15-4 loss to LSU a day earlier, were locked in a tense battle until Sewell’s decisive swing. The second baseman, who finished 2 for 3, drove a pitch from reliever Jack Noot over the right-center field wall with the bases loaded, transforming a precarious 1-0 lead into a commanding 5-0 advantage.

That cushion proved vital as LSU (12-4) mounted a fierce comeback. The Tigers scored three times in the bottom of the eighth, capitalizing on a ground-rule RBI double by Jake Yorke, a wild pitch and a Sacramento State fielding error. Pinch-hitter Daniel Harden then led off the ninth with a solo home run to pull LSU within a run.

After two walks put the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first, Hornets reliever Trevor Wilson entered and recorded the final two outs, striking out Yorke and getting Braden Dardar to fly out to center to seal the upset.

The game’s defining characteristic for seven innings was dominant pitching, particularly from Sacramento State’s staff. Starter Kurt Marton set the tone with 4 1/3 hitless innings, walking two and striking out four. Relievers Sean Carey and Ian Winterhalder followed with 2 2/3 and 1 1/3 scoreless innings, respectively, before LSU’s late surge.

LSU starter Cooper Moore was nearly as effective, allowing one run on four hits over 4 2/3 innings. Reliever Ethan Plog held the Hornets hitless for 2 2/3 frames until running into trouble in the eighth.

The Hornets managed only six hits but drew seven walks. The Tigers were held to three hits but benefited from nine walks and two Sacramento State errors.

The victory marked a significant turnaround for Sacramento State, which entered the game having lost eight of its last nine. LSU saw a four-game winning streak snapped.

The teams conclude their three-game series on Sunday.