SOFTBALL HOSTS SAINT MARY’S THIS WEEKEND; BREAST CANCER AWARENESS DAY ON SATURDAY
4/12/2011
Marissa Navarro gets set to bat against Santa Clara in last year's breast cancer awareness day
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Sacramento State softball team will play it second consecutive four-game Pacific Coast Softball Conference (PCSC) home series this weekend when the Hornets host Saint Mary’s. The Hornets and Gaels will play doubleheaders on both Saturday and Sunday at noon.
Saturday’s doubleheader will serve as the team’s “Think Pink” games in support of breast cancer awareness. Sacramento State players will be wearing pink items, and fans are encouraged to wear pink as well. A donation table will be set up at the entrance to Shea Stadium with all proceeds going to Mercy Foundation for breast cancer research.
Sacramento State is just 1-5 on its current season-long 14-game homestand, with games still to play next weekend against Loyola Marymount (April 22-23). The 14-game homestand ties for the most consecutive stretch of home games in program history (the 2009 squad also played 14 straight home contests).
After winning the first game of last weekend’s four-game set with San Diego, the Hornets dropped the final three games of the series. It marked the first time Sacramento State has dropped three straight conference games at home since the 2004 season.
The Hornets (9-19, 1-3) had a 7-11 record after defeating Northern Illinois on March 17, but have since dropped eight of their last 10 games. Sacramento State will look to right the ship against a Saint Mary’s squad that has fallen on tough times after winning last season’s PCSC championship for the first time in school history.
The Gaels (5-16, 1-3), who play at Cal on Wednesday, opened conference play last weekend by dropping three of four games on the road at Loyola Marymount. Saint Mary’s won the last game of the series by a 3-1 score, snapping a 10-game losing streak. In fact, after opening the year with a 3-3 record, Saint Mary’s has won just two of its last 15 games. The Gaels are currently hitting .215 as a team, and the pitching staff has a 4.06 ERA.
All four games of this weekend’s series will have multimedia options, including live audio and live stats.
AGAINST SAINT MARY’S: Since joining the Div. I ranks in 1990, Sacramento State is 53-8 against Saint Mary’s. That includes a 27-3 record when playing at Shea Stadium. Since the two teams joined the PCSC in 2003, the Hornets are 25-7 in conference play against the Gaels, including a 14-2 mark in Sacramento. However, the Gaels have won the last three meetings between the two teams with each of those wins coming last year in Moraga.
HORNET BRIEFS
- Sacramento State has gotten into the habit of playing fast games. On average, a softball game will take between an hour and 45 minutes to two hours to complete. Of the Hornets last five games, four have been played in 1:30 or less. Dating back even further, of the team’s last 15 games, 13 have been played in less than two hours.
- The Hornets are 2-8 over their last 10 games, and its easy to see why when crunching the numbers. During that 10-game stretch, Sacramento State is hitting just .215 with two home runs, the defense has committed 15 errors (.948 fielding percentage), and the pitching staff has produced a 4.91 ERA.
- Freshman left fielder Shannon Kaufman was the only Hornet to hit safely in all four games last weekend against San Diego, and finished the series batting .545 (6-for-11) with a stolen base and no strikeouts. That lifted her batting average to a team-best .305. Her current four-game hitting streak marks the third time this season she has carried a hitting streak of at least four games long. That included a season-best five gamer from Feb. 27-March 11.
- Freshman right-hander Taylor Stroud’s no-hitter last Saturday against San Diego marked the first no-hitter thrown by a Hornet since Cassie Cervantes accomplished the feat against Portland State (4-0 win) on May 6, 2006. In addition, it marked the 30th no-hitter thrown by a Hornet pitcher since the program joined the Div. I ranks. Stroud, who has become the ace of the Hornets’ staff, now ranks third in the PCSC in opponents batting average (.232), fourth in ERA (2.38) and seventh in innings (94.0).
- Sacramento State has started at least six underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) in every game this year. That includes routinely starting five freshmen. Left fielder Shannon Kaufman (26 starts), right fielder Paige Martin (23 starts), second baseman Devin Caldwell (27 starts), shortstop Yesenia Alcala (17 starts) and right-hander Taylor Stroud (11 starts in the circle) have each seen substantial playing time throughout the season.
- Junior Alyssa Nakken is the only Hornet to start all 28 games this year with each coming at first base. Freshman Devin Caldwell started the first 26 games of the season at second base before not playing the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, and starting at designated player in the second game.
- Junior right-hander Shelby Voelz missed nine straight games with a concussion before returning to make two relief appearances last weekend. Voelz, who is still trying to shake off some rust from not pitching in a month, was a first team all-PCSC selection last season after posting a 1.58 ERA against conference opposition.
- The Hornets have committed 14 errors over their last six games after committing 21 errors during the first 22 games of the season. That included three errors during one inning of Taylor Stroud’s no-hitter in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader against San Diego. The recent miscues have dropped Sacramento State’s fielding percentage to .957.
- The first inning continued to be a thorn in the Hornets’ side as opponents have scored 31 runs, or an average of 1.1 runs in the first inning of games this year. Overall, the opposition has outscored Sacramento State, 31-8, in the first inning of a game.
