SOFTBALL TRAVELS TO LOYOLA MARYMOUNT IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE, SHOT AT PCSC TITLE STILL A POSSIBILITY
5/6/2010
The Sacramento State softball team (19-31, 9-7) embarks upon its final regular season series of the year when it travels to Loyola Marymount (22-22, 9-7) for a four-game series...the two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m., and a doubleheader Sunday at 1 p.m...all four games will be played at Smith Field on the Loyola Marymount campus...Loyola Marymount is asking fans that come to Saturday’s doubleheader to arrive to the field after 1 p.m...access to campus will be closed between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. as a result of graduation ceremonies...heading into the final conference weekend of the season, Sacramento State is one of four teams all within three games of each other atop the Pacific Coast Softball Conference’s Coastal Division...those four teams are Saint Mary’s (11-3), San Diego (8-6), Loyola Marymount (9-7) and Sacramento State (9-7)...Saint Mary’s will play four games at Cal State Bakersfield (8-8) this weekend while San Diego will host Santa Clara (1-15) in a four-game series...two games that were rained out earlier this year in Moraga between Saint Mary’s and San Diego will be made up on Monday, May 10, on Cal State Bakersfield’s field...the Coastal Division champion will host the Mountain Division winner (likely Portland State) in a three-game series May 14-15 with the winner receiving an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCENARIOS FOR THE HORNETS
Sacramento State still has an outside chance of winning the Coastal Division, and below are two scenarios that will give the Hornets the division championship. The Hornets will have to win the division outright because they lose out on every tiebreaker.
Scenario 1
- Sacramento State sweeps all 4 games from Loyola Marymount
- Saint Mary’s drops 3 of 4 games at Cal State Bakersfield
- San Diego splits its four-game series with Santa Clara
- San Diego wins both games against Saint Mary’s in the makeup doubleheader on Monday
Scenario 2
- Sacramento State wins 3 of 4 from Loyola Marymount
- Cal State Bakersfield sweeps all 4 games from Saint Mary’s
- San Diego loses 3 of 4 to Santa Clara
- San Diego wins both games against Saint Mary’s in the makeup doubleheader on Monday
OTHER NOTABLES
If those tiebreakers weren’t daunting enough, Sacramento State has always struggled when playing Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles...since joining the PCSC in 2003, the Hornets are 2-10 when playing on Loyola Marymount’s home field, including being swept in four games in 2004 and 2008...should Sacramento State win at least one game this weekend, the team would assure itself of finishing the conference season with a .500 record or above every year since joining the PCSC (a span of eight straight years)...the team is 93-59 all-time (.612 winning percentage) in PCSC play...the Hornets have that opportunity despite a starting unit made up almost exclusively of underclassmen, as well as dealing with a variety of injuries to top players throughout the year...heading into the weekend, three Sacramento State regulars, Jenice Bartee (.408), Erin Jones (.400) and Marissa Navarro (.395) all have the opportunity to finish the season with a .400 or better batting average against conference competition...Jones has a team-best 35 RBIs this year and needs just two this weekend to rank among the top five Sacramento State single-season marks...Bartee is 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts, and is three bags shy of tying the single-season record of 15 stolen bases, held by Hilary Johnson (2007)...Bartee has already obliterated the outfield assist record with 12 this year, including throwing out 11 runners at first base from her right field position...Hornet pitchers Shelby Voelz (4-3, 1.14 ERA) and Megan Schaefer (5-4, 1.64 ERA) will look to continue their success against PCSC opposition...conference batters are hitting just .198 against Voelz, and she has three shutouts inside of league play...the only three Sacramento State players to start all 50 games this year are first baseman Alyssa Nakken, center fielder Kelli Frye and Bartee.
The Sacramento State softball team (19-31, 9-7) embarks upon its final regular season series of the year when it travels to Loyola Marymount (22-22, 9-7) for a four-game series...the two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 2 p.m., and a doubleheader Sunday at 1 p.m...all four games will be played at Smith Field on the Loyola Marymount campus...Loyola Marymount is asking fans that come to Saturday’s doubleheader to arrive to the field after 1 p.m...access to campus will be closed between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. as a result of graduation ceremonies...heading into the final conference weekend of the season, Sacramento State is one of four teams all within three games of each other atop the Pacific Coast Softball Conference’s Coastal Division...those four teams are Saint Mary’s (11-3), San Diego (8-6), Loyola Marymount (9-7) and Sacramento State (9-7)...Saint Mary’s will play four games at Cal State Bakersfield (8-8) this weekend while San Diego will host Santa Clara (1-15) in a four-game series...two games that were rained out earlier this year in Moraga between Saint Mary’s and San Diego will be made up on Monday, May 10, on Cal State Bakersfield’s field...the Coastal Division champion will host the Mountain Division winner (likely Portland State) in a three-game series May 14-15 with the winner receiving an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.
