VOELZ TOSSES FOURTH SHUTOUT, SOFTBALL SPLITS WITH CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD

5/2/2010

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State right-hander Shelby Voelz tossed a four-hit shutout and both Jenice Bartee and Marissa Navarro homered to lead the Hornets to an 8-0 victory in the second game of a Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) doubleheader Sunday afternoon at a windy Shea Stadium.

A walkoff RBI-double from Jaimey Kleinsmith in the eighth inning gave the Roadrunners a 3-2 victory in the first game. Per PCSC rules, Cal State Bakersfield was the designated home team in both games today despite the doubleheader being played on the Hornets’ home field.

With the split, Sacramento State (19-31, 9-7) fell further behind first-place Saint Mary’s (11-3) in the conference standings. With just four games remaining in the regular season, Sacramento State is currently tied for second with Loyola Marymount (9-7) and San Diego (8-6) as all three teams trail Saint Mary’s by three games. The Hornets play a four-game series next weekend at Loyola Marymount while Saint Mary’s travels to Cal State Bakersfield (8-8) for a four-game series, and San Diego hosts Santa Clara (1-15). Saint Mary’s also still has to host a pair of makeup games against San Diego at some point in the next two weeks.

What this means for Sacramento State is a bit complicated. The Hornets still have an outside chance of winning the PCSC’s Coastal Division title, but would need to sweep Loyola Marymount next weekend and get help from other teams in the conference, especially Cal State Bakersfield when it hosts Saint Mary’s next week. One loss would eliminate the Hornets as Saint Mary’s currently owns the tiebreaker with Sacramento State should the two teams finish with the same record.

The Coastal Division champion hosts the Mountain Division champion in a three-game series May 14-15, with the winner getting the PCSC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.

In the nightcap of today’s doubleheader, Voelz (9-16) allowed four hits while walking none and striking out four over seven innings. She faced just four batters over the minimum, and did not allow a runner past second base the entire game. In addition, all four Roadrunner hits were singles and Voelz needed just 84 pitches to complete her team-best fourth shutout of the season.

Conversely, Sacramento State’s offense had little trouble against the combination of Roadrunner starter Katie Chavez and reliever Ryane Petersen. The Hornets tallied 11 hits, including four doubles and two home runs. A two-run homer by Bartee in the third and a three-run blast from Navarro in the sixth were the scoring highlights. A sacrifice fly from Megan Schaefer accounted for one of the Hornets’ two runs in the first inning, and an RBI-single from Jillian Canete got the Hornets a run in the seventh.

All but two Hornet starters had hits, including multiple-hit games from Bartee (2-for-4 with two runs, a double, home run and two RBIs), Erin Jones (2-for-4 with two runs), Canete (2-for-4 with a run and an RBI) and Navarro (2-for-4 with a run, double, home run and three RBIs). Alyssa Nakken and Schaefer also had doubles for Sacramento State.

After getting a win yesterday against the Hornets, Chavez (3-5) took the loss, allowing eight hits and seven runs (five earned) in 5.2 innings.

In the first game, Cal State Bakersfield opened the bottom of the eighth inning with three-straight hits, the last of which was a double from Kleinsmith which scored Petersen with the game-winning tally. In the top half of the inning, Sacramento State got a leadoff double from Emily McCormick but could not score. The Hornets got a little unlucky later in the inning when Schaefer hit a ball that would have been a two-run homer on any other day, but a strong wind kept the ball in the park.

The Hornets took an early 1-0 lead in the first on a successful squeeze bunt by McCormick scoring Nakken. The Roadrunners scored twice in the fourth on a two-out, two-run single from Danielle Lyman to take a 2-1 lead. Sacramento State tied the score in the sixth when Canete’s RBI-single scored Jones.

Schaefer (8-7) got the loss in relief, allowing six hits and one run in 3.2 innings. Cal State Bakersfield’s Shawna Truan (7-11) picked up the win, allowing two runs and nine hits over eight innings. Sacramento State left nine runners on base, including stranding the bases loaded in the eighth.

Sacramento State seniors Katie Bossenmaier and Bartee were honored for their contributions to the program prior to the first game.

The Hornets conclude the regular season next weekend with doubleheaders at noon on both Saturday and Sunday at Loyola Marymount. Since joining the PCSC in 2003, the Hornets are 2-10 when playing on Loyola Marymount’s home field.