AFTER HUGE WEEK, LOOMIS REWARDED WITH PCSC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS

4/24/2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- After combining for four home runs and 11 RBIs in a four-game series against Santa Clara, Sacramento State sophomore Whitney Loomis was named the Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) Player of the Week today.

Loomis, who graduated from Sacramento’s Mira Loma High School in 2005, becomes the second Hornet to receive the honor this year, joining sophomore catcher Jamie Schloredt (Feb. 12). The award for Loomis is the first of her career.

Loomis, who is the team’s starting second baseman, led Sacramento State to a 3-2 record last week, including a 3-1 series victory over Santa Clara over the weekend. Over five games, the Sacramento native combined to bat .500 (7-14) with one double, three walks, four home runs, 11 RBIs, a 1.429 slugging percentage and a .588 on-base percentage. In addition, she scored a team-high tying six runs and hit safely in every game of the Santa Clara series.
        
In fact, after going 0-for-2 in a non-conference game against Cal on Wednesday, Loomis unloaded on Santa Clara pitching to the tune of a .583 batting average (7-12) with four home runs, 11 RBIs, three walks (one intentional), a 1.667 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage.
        
The four home runs were the first of Loomis’ two-year tenure in a Sacramento State uniform, and all four home runs proved large in two of the Hornets’ victories over the Broncos. In the team’s 8-5 victory in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Loomis had a two-run homer that was part of a five-run third inning that helped the Hornets overcome a four-run deficit. She later added a solo home run over the center field wall in the seventh.
        
Her big blow of the week came in the Hornets’ 5-4, nine-inning victory over the Broncos in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader. With Sacramento State trailing, 4-1, in the bottom of the seventh inning, Loomis hit a three-run homer to tie the game and send it to extra innings. She was later intentionally walked in the ninth inning one batter before the game-winning hit was recorded.
        
In the first game of the Santa Clara series, Loomis went 2-for-3 with a run, four RBIs, a walk and a double. In the second game, she went 2-for-3 with two runs, three RBIs and two home runs. In the third game, the infielder was 1-for-3 with a run and walk, and in the fourth game, she finished 2-for-3 with two runs, four RBIs, two home runs and a walk.
         
On March 25, Loomis was batting .229 with just two RBIs. However, over her last 15 games, she is hitting .450 (18-40) with nine runs, two doubles, one triple, four home runs, 16 RBIs, six walks, four sacrifices and a .511 on-base percentage. She is currently hitting .347, the second best mark on the team.

Sacramento State (14-31, 5-6) has just eight games remaining on the schedule, including a four-game series at home this weekend against San Diego. The Hornets and Toreros will play doubleheaders at noon on both Saturday and Sunday.