The Hornets (29-25, 8-8 Pacific Coast Softball Conference) concluded the road portion of their schedule last, losing three of four games at Santa Clara. At 29-25, Sacramento State has assured itself of finishing the season at .500 or above for the first time since the 1999 squad went 27-26. The Hornets went 18-33 in 2002, 17-37 in 2001 and 25-30 in 2000.

Sacramento State is currently in fourth place in the PCSC standings, one game behind third-place Portland State (9-7). Santa Clara (9-3) sits in first place by percentage points above Loyola Marymount (11-5). Santa Clara still has to make up a four-game series against Saint Mary’s that was rained out earlier in the year. San Diego, which has lost 15 of its last 16 games, is last in the standings with a 7-39 overall record and a 2-14 mark in the PCSC.

Should Sacramento State win all four games this weekend, the team would conclude the season eight games above .500, which would be the Hornets’ best mark since the 1997 squad finished the year 32-24-1. Prior to Sunday’s game, the Hornets’ lone two seniors (Gina Steenburgen and Jillian Bivert) will be honored for their contributions to the program. Below are some highlights from both player’s careers.

Gina Steenburgen (2000-03): Battled a lower leg injury for the majority of her career, but still has 70 career appearances. This season, she is 3-1 with a save and a team-best 2.18 ERA. In 264.0 career innings, Steenburgen has allowed just eight home runs and has 126 strikeouts. Her innings pitched is the eight-best mark in Sacramento State Div. I career history while her strikeouts are the 10th-best mark. During her freshman season, Steenburgen went 6-6 with a 2.64 ERA while posting seven complete games and a .252 opponents batting average.

Jillian Bivert (2000-03): Ranks among the top five in numerous Sacramento State Div. I career categories including first with 93 RBIs and 201 hits, second in home runs (10) and putouts (1,145), third in at-bats (643), batting average (.313) and walks (55), and fourth in runs (82) and doubles (30). She has missed just three games during her four years with program, a career that encompasses 211 games. Bivert led the Hornets in batting average each of her first three years with the program and owns the fifth (.327), eighth (.320) and ninth (.316) best batting averages in Hornet single-season history. A two-time all-conference selection, Bivert has 35 RBIs this year, breaking the previous school single-season mark of 29.

Head Coach Kathy Strahan

Sacramento State head coach Kathy Strahan, who has spent time as head coach with Cal State Dominguez Hills (1984-85), San Jose State (1986-92) and Sacramento State (1993-pres.), has posted a 553-535-3 career record in 19-plus years. Currently in her 11th season with the Hornets, Strahan has a 306-290-2 record while guiding Sacramento State to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances (1993, 1995). The NCAA Regional appearance in 1993 marked the first postseason bid for any program in Sacramento State Div. I history to an NCAA Championship event. The Michigan State graduate has also been named Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1993 and co-Big West Conference Coach of the Year while at San Jose State in 1989. Strahan’s 553 victories are good for 29th all-time on the NCAA list among active head coaches with at least five years of Div. I experience. In addition, 13 members of the 2003 Hornet squad have 3.0 grade point averages or better.

Record-Breaking Season

This year’s Sacramento State squad has set numerous individual and team Div. I program (1990-pres.) single-season records.

As a team, the Hornets have set records in consecutive wins (10), triples (16), hit-by-pitches (25) and sacrifices (91). The Hornets are still within reach of the batting average (.265), runs (205) and RBI (159) records. The team currently has a .259 batting average with 182 runs and 144 RBIs.

Freshman Lindy Winkler is the new single-season record holder in at-bats (194), runs (38) and triples (seven). She needs just five hits to tie the record of 68 hits and three stolen bases to tie the record of 11 stolen bases.

Despite missing the last 10 games with injury, junior Amy Walter has a program-record 27 sacrifices, destroying the previous mark of 15. Senior Jillian Bivert (35) and sophomore Erin Coyne (32) both surpassed the previous single-season mark of 29 RBIs.

April Struggles

Since sweeping four games from Saint Mary’s and improving their record to 25-15 and 4-0 in the PCSC, the Hornets have lost 10 of their last 14 games. Here are some numbers from the 14-game stretch: the Hornets are hitting just .223 as a team while averaging 2.4 runs per game.

The team is also hitting just .202 with runners in scoring position, .223 with runners on base and .192 with two outs. Of Sacramento State’s 85 hits, only nine have gone for extra bases (four doubles and five homers). The Hornets have not scored a run in either the fourth or seventh inning during the stretch, and only two players have recorded more than one RBI during a game (Jillian Bivert twice and Amanda Moreland once).

The pitching staff has combined to allow 35 runs during innings 3-6. In addition, the staff has allowed 23 doubles, two triples and five homers in 101.1 innings, good for a .369 opponents’ slugging percentage. In five of the 10 losses, the Hornets squandered leads.

Team/Player Notables

Since losing starting shortstop Amy Walter to injury on April 12, the Hornets are 3-7...after tallying 16 triples through the first 37 games of the season, the Hornets have none during the last 17 games...junior Amanda Moreland (.333) and freshman Lindy Winkler (.300) are the only two Hornets hitting at least .300 against PCSC competition...Sacramento State has been outscored, 20-9, in the seventh inning of games this season...in the Hornet Div. I single-season record book, junior Nicole Deatherage is currently eighth in strikeouts (143), 10th in wins (13) and tied for 10th in games started (25)...three Hornets currently have hitting streaks of three games or more (Jillian Bivert-4, Amanda Moreland-3, Erin Coyne-3)...Bivert has five games with at least three RBIs this year...offensively, Deatherage has two hits in her last 22 at-bats dropping her average to .292, the lowest it has been since Feb. 16...including assists in both games Sunday, Winkler has seven outfield assists, the most by a Hornet...junior Jenni Friedrichs started games at second base on both Saturday and Sunday. She had appeared in just three games previously...junior Stephanie Lockhart returned to the starting lineup last weekend for the first time since March 9 because of a broken finger...Moreland has hit safely in 14 of her last 17 games (18-of-53, .340)...Jessica Rojo is hitless in her last 14 at-bats...the Hornets have four homers in the last three games.