SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For the second time in as many weeks, Sacramento State sophomore Caitlin Brooks was named the Big Sky Conference's Pitcher of the Week.
Brooks has now received the honor each of the first two weeks of the season.
The right-hander helped lead Sacramento State to an 11-inning victory over rival Saint Mary's, and was effective in both her starts last week. She finished the week 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA, allowing just 11 hits, six runs, four walks and 15 strikeouts in 18.0 innings pitched. She went the distance in both her starts, limited the opposition to a .172 batting average, pitched scoreless innings in 15 of the 18 innings she worked, and had nearly a 4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.75-to-1).
Her victory came against Saint Mary's on Saturday when she limited the Gaels to six hits and three runs over 11 innings. The innings pitched were the most by a Sacramento State pitcher since Megan Schaefer tossed 11 innings in a 2-1 home win over CSU Bakersfield on April 1, 2009. Perhaps most impressive about Brooks' performance is she appeared to get stronger as the game went along, allowing just one single during the final five innings, and retiring the last seven batters she faced in succession. The Hornets eventually won the game by a 6-3 score.
In Tuesday's 3-0 loss to Pacific, the Escalon, Calif., native allowed three runs and five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Brooks had allowed just one hit through the first six innings of the game until the Tigers strung together three runs and four hits in the seventh inning. With the game still scoreless, two outs and the bases loaded in seventh inning, Pacific's Melanie Habib hit a bloop single that landed just fair to score two runs. The Tigers tacked on one more in the inning to provide the final tally.
Brooks has been very good to start the season, posting a 3-1 record with a 1.53 ERA. She has gone the distance in all four of her starts, has limited the opposition to a .200 batting average, and has team highs in wins, ERA, innings pitched (32.0), strikeouts (31). In addition, Brooks has allowed just five extra base hits in her 32.0 innings of work.
Sacramento State (4-4) was supposed to play at San Jose State today, but the game has been postponed due to rain. Instead, the Hornets won't return to action until hosting a doubleheader against UC Davis next Wednesday (Feb. 27) at 1 p.m.