SOFTBALL HOSTS FOUR-GAME SET AGAINST SANTA CLARA, CANCER AWARENESS DAY ON FRIDAY
4/3/2012
Sacramento State (17-13, 0-3) plays its first Pacific Coast Softball Conference home games this week when the team hosts a four-game series against Santa Clara (7-27, 2-2). The Hornets and Broncos will play doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday at noon.
Friday’s doubleheader will serve as Cancer Awareness Day, and will feature the Hornets wearing pink uniforms to support and raise awareness for all cancer patients (more information below). In addition, the first 50 Green Army members at Friday’s doubleheader will get free pizza from California Pizza Kitchen.
Like every home game this year, live audio and live stats will be offered for all four games of the series via www.hornetsports.com. Nate Goodyear will provide the play-by-play on the broadcasts.
The Hornets opened PCSC play last Sunday, dropping all three games of a tripleheader at Saint Mary’s. The Hornets and Gaels were supposed to play doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday, but saw Saturday’s double dip canceled because of rain. Instead, the two teams played a tripleheader on Sunday and will make up the fourth game later in the season.
Sacramento State is 0-3 in the PCSC for the first time since the league formed in 2003. In fact, Sacramento State has never finished the season with a PCSC record below the .500 mark. The Hornets still have 17 conference games remaining in the season, eight of which will be played at home.
The Hornets will play a Santa Clara team that split a four-game road series last weekend with conference favorite Loyola Marymount. One of those Santa Clara wins came in Sunday’s nightcap where the Broncos overcame a 7-0 deficit by scoring nine times in the sixth inning in an eventual 9-7 win.
Sacramento State has owned Santa Clara recently, winning 17 straight games against the Broncos dating back to the 2007 season. During the winning streak, the Hornets have won those games by an average of 5.6 runs per contest, and four of those victories ended after five innings because of the mercy rule. Overall, Sacramento State is 50-20 all-time against Santa Clara.
AGAINST SANTA CLARA
Friday-Saturday, April 6-7, doubleheaders both days begin at noon
Shea Stadium - Sacramento, Calif.
Series Record with the Broncos - Hornets Lead, 50-20
Streak - Sacramento State has won 17 straight dating back to 2007
Last Year Against SCU - Hornets swept a 4-game series at Santa Clara
Coverage: Live Audio, Live Stats
CANCER AWARENESS ON FRIDAY -- In support of all cancer patients and to raise awareness, Sacramento State will play Friday’s doubleheader in pink jerseys that feature multi-colored ribbons. The team will also wear pink wristbands and pink shoe laces. The first pitch will be thrown by cancer survivor Carole Bossenmaier, who is the mother of former Hornet softball player Katie Bossenmaier. Fans are also encouraged to wear pink, and a donation table will be set up at the entrance of Shea Stadium with all proceeds going to Sacramento’s Mercy Hospital/Mercy Foundation. Sacramento State’s Green Army student group will offer pink ribbons, t-shirts, pom poms and other items at the donation table.
PLAYING AT HOME -- Sacramento State is 4-1 at home this year, which includes victories over San Jose State, Colorado State, Princeton and UC Santa Barbara. The pitching has been especially good at home as the staff gave up two runs or less in all four of the victories inside the friendly confines. Hornet pitchers have combined for a 1.48 ERA at home, and limited the opposition to a .235 batting average. Freshman Caitlin Brooks has yet to allow an earned run at home in 11.1 innings.
LENGTHY HITTING STREAK -- Junior center fielder Kelli Frye is riding a 10-game hitting streak, the longest of her career. During that 10-game stretch, she is batting .464 (13-for-28) with seven runs, three walks, five stolen bases and a .516 on-base percentage. She is one game shy of matching the seventh-longest hitting streak in the program¹s Div. I history (1990-pres.). Below is a list of the longest hitting streaks in the Hornets’ Div. I era.
21 games -- Izmena Cabrera (2009)
18 games -- Lindy Winkler (2006)
17 games -- Katie Cichy (1998)
13 games -- Marissa Navarro (Parts of 2010 and 2011)
13 games -- Angela Jeter (1993)
12 games -- Jill Haas (1998)
11 games -- Five Players (Jamie Schloredt, Kayla Meeks, Jenny O’Leary, Lindy Winkler, Amber Dragomir)
RUN PRODUCER -- Senior catcher Marissa Navarro already has 29 RBIs, which are more than any player produced all of last season. In fact, Navarro, who is averaging one RBI per game, is just four RBIs shy of cracking the top 10 for the most RBIs in a season during the Div. I era. At her current pace, she would finish the season with 45 RBIs, which would rank as the second best mark in Div. I history. Below is a list of the school’s top 10 in single-season RBIs.
COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH -- No Hornet has been better in clutch at-bats than junior Emily McCormick. The third baseman leads the team in batting average with runners in scoring position (.447, 17-for-38), and average with two outs (.419, 13-for-31). In addition, in 11 at-bats with a runner on third base and less than two outs, she has driven in the run on six occasions.
PURE HITTERS -- If the season ended today, Devin Caldwell, Emily McCormick and Shannon Kaufman would all rank in Sacramento State’s top eight for career batting average during the Div. I era (min. 200-at bats). Caldwell’s .333 career batting average ranks her fourth on the list, McCormick’s .328 ranks her fifth, and Kaufman’s .325 ranks eighth.
NEVER SITTING OUT -- One of three Hornets to start all 30 games this season, senior first baseman Alyssa Nakken has now started 148 consecutive games dating back to her freshman season. The only games she missed came during her freshman season (2009) when she sat out 11 games because of a hamstring injury. For her career, she has started all 168 games in which she has appeared, batting .290 with a .370 on-base percentage.
1-RUN GAMES -- After beginning the season 2-4 in one-run games, Sacramento State has won each of its last five one-run nail biters. In fact, four of the team’s last six wins have come by a single run.
PROWESS IN THE FIELD -- Sacramento State’s fielding percentage of .978 is tied for the fifth best mark in the nation. Sacramento State has committed just 19 errors this season compared to 47 for the opposition. The Hornets’ starting infield of third baseman Emily McCormick (0), shortstop Jessica Abelia (1), second baseman Devin Caldwell (3) and first baseman Alyssa Nakken (2) has accumulated just six errors all season. The four have combined for a lofty .987 fielding percentage (310 putouts, 151 assists, 6 errors). Abelia, despite playing arguably the toughest position to avoid errors (shortstop), has just one error in 82 total chances.
SCORING FIRST -- The Hornets are 15-4 when scoring first, and 2-9 when the opposition scores the game’s first run. That includes a 15-0 record when leading after four innings and 0-10 when trailing after the fourth inning.
