SOFTBALL CONCLUDES HOMESTAND WITH FOUR GAMES THIS WEEK VS. SAINT MARY'S
4/8/2009
THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE
Friday, April 10 vs. Saint Mary’s – DH (Shea Stadium) Noon STATS, AUDIO
Saturday, April 10 vs. Saint Mary’s – DH (Shea Stadium) Noon STATS, AUDIO
STATS - Get live stats via hornetsports.com
AUDIO - Follow the game via live audio at hornetsports.com THIS WEEK’S PREVIEW
Sacramento State (17-18, 3-1) concludes its season-long 15-game homestand this week when the team hosts Pacific Coast Softball Conference rival Saint Mary’s (17-19, 1-3)...the teams will play a four-game series with doubleheaders beginning at noon on both Friday and Saturday...the Hornets, who are the defending PCSC champions, are currently tied for second in the league standings with Loyola Marymount. Portland State is first with a 4-0 record...all six teams in the conference will play 20 conference games, with the regular season champion receiving an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals...Sacramento State, which opened PCSC play last weekend by going 3-1 against San Diego, has won 11 of its last 12 conference games dating back to last season...the Hornets are 21-3 against the Gaels since the first year of PCSC play in 2003...Sacramento State has either swept or taken three of four games from Saint Mary’s in each of those four-game series...www.hornetsports.com will offer live stats and live audio for all four games this week and every home game this season...overall, the Hornets have won seven of their last eight games since the team was 10-17 on March 21...that included a 2-1 victory over then 12th ranked Cal on March 24...the Hornets are one game shy of the .500 mark, a place the team hasn’t been since the opening week of the season...the Hornets are 10-3 at home this year and 75-39 inside the friendly confines since the 2004 season...Sacramento State usually plays its four-game conference series on Saturday and Sunday, but this week’s series was pushed up to Friday and Saturday, because of the Easter holiday on Sunday.
HORNET BRIEFS
• After a slow start to the season that saw the team’s offense compile just a .215 batting average through the first 21 games of the season, Sacramento State’s offense has been on fire over the last three weeks. During that 14-game stretch which began against Colorado State on March 14, the Hornets are averaging 6.6 runs per game while batting .359 (147-for-409) with 25 doubles, six triples, nine home runs and 82 RBIs. Jamie Schloredt (.512), Alyssa Nakken (.500), Desiree Beltran (.479), Izmena Cabrera (.460) and Rachel Miles (.400) are each hitting at least .400 during that stretch as well.
• Among the 284 NCAA Div. I softball teams, Sacramento State currently ranks 21st in the nation in doubles per game (1.54), 41st in triples per game (0.26 per game), 79th in slugging percentage (.410) and 96th in batting average (.277). Senior Izmena Cabrera (0.45 per game) and freshman Desiree Beltran (0.38 per game) rank third and 15th, respectively, in the nation in doubles per game.
• Cabrera’s current 18-game hitting streak is not only tied for the longest in school history, it is tied for the best mark in PCSC history. Both marks are also owned by former Hornet Lindy Winkler, who accomplished the feat in 2006. That year, Winkler was a second team All-American after batting .434. In addition, Cabrera’s career batting average of .372 is not only the best mark in Sacramento State history, it is also the top mark in PCSC history.
• Senior Jamie Schloredt picked up four more RBIs over the weekend and now has a program-best 137 for her career. That mark is a ridiculous 44 RBIs more than any other Hornet as Jillian Bivert (2000-03) is currently second on the program’s career list with 93 RBIs. Schloredt is now the PCSC career leader in RBIs, surpassing the previous mark of 135, set by former Portland State player Mandy Hill.
• Offensively, Schloredt has not been retired in each of the last three games. During that three-game stretch, which spans 10 plate appearances, she is 7-for-7 with three walks, a triple, a home run, five runs scored and four RBIs.
• Freshman Desiree Beltran hit .619 (13-for-21) in six games last week, and raised her batting average to a season-best .410. That average is the second best mark in the conference, trailing only Portland State’s Jackie Heide’s mark of .419. Beltran now has a team-best 14 multiple-hit games (which also ranks second in the conference) and has hit safely in 13 of her last 16 games.
• Freshman first baseman Alyssa Nakken had exactly two at-bats during a 12-game stretch (March 13-April 1) when she was nursing a hamstring injury. However, she returned last weekend in impressive fashion against San Diego. During the four-game series, she hit safely in all four games while batting .583 (7-for-12) with six runs scored and a walk. She posted multiple-hit games in each of the final three games of the series.
• While the Hornets were playing without the services of freshman right-hander Shelby Voelz (illness) last weekend, sophomore pitcher Megan Schaefer was forced to throw 18.0 of a possible 24.0 innings during the four-game series against San Diego. Schaefer responded by going 2-1 with a 1.56 ERA during the four-game set, including a four-hit shutout on Sunday. Schaefer’s season ERA of 2.35 is now the top mark in the conference (min. 2.0 innings per game), and she has won six of her last seven decisions dating back to the beginning of March. She has now gone 11 straight appearances where she has allowed three earned runs or less.
• Senior Rachel Miles combined for nine RBIs on Sunday against San Diego, and she now is now tied for first on the Hornets and tied for third in the PCSC with 25 RBIs. Miles, who had multiple hits in all four games against San Diego, has posted at least four RBIs in a game three times this season. Over her last 12 games, she is batting .463 (19-for-41), lifting her season batting average to its current mark of .337.
• Junior outfielder Jenice Bartee has hit safely in six of her last seven games, raising her batting average 42 percentage points over that span.
• Freshman center fielder Alicia Noriega missed the final three games last week against San Diego after colliding hard with a Torero infielder on a stolen base attempt. Her return to the lineup this week is probable.
THIS WEEK’S PREVIEW
