SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Senior Nicole Deatherage threw a six-hit shutout and junior Brianne Ferguson added an eight-hit shutout as Sacramento State swept Nevada in a non-conference softball doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Idlewild Park. The Hornets defeated Nevada, 4-0, in the first game and ousted the Wolf Pack, 2-0, in the nightcap.With the victories, the Hornets have now won 12 of their last 17 games while improving their overall record to a season-best four games above the .500 mark (20-16). Nevada dropped to 25-18 with the losses.
Deatherage, who has earned Pacific Coast Softball Conference Pitcher of the Week honors four times in the last five weeks, continued to baffle the opposition. The Cameron Park, Calif., native has now allowed just two earned runs in her last 83.2 innings pitched, a span of 12 appearances. With her victory in the first game, she is now 10-6 this season with a 0.66 ERA and five shutouts. She retired 13 of the final 15 batters of the game and faced just five batters over the minimum.
Sacramento State scored once in the second inning, twice in the sixth and once more in the seventh. Junior Lesley Mayhorn led all players with three hits in the contest, including an RBI-single in the seventh inning. A Nevada error in the second inning allowed Deatherage to score with the game’s first run. The Hornets got two more in the sixth on an RBI-double from sophomore Lindy Winkler and a Wolf Pack error eventually allowing Winkler to score. Winkler had one hit in both games and extended her career-high hitting streak to 10 games.
Nevada’s Judith van Kampen (8-7) got the loss, allowing four runs (two earned) and six hits in seven innings.
In the nightcap, Ferguson escaped constant trouble to post her fifth shutout of the season. The right-hander allowed at least one base runner in all but one inning and escaped bases-loaded jams in the first, fifth and seventh innings. Ferguson evened her record at 8-8, allowing eight hits while striking out six in seven innings. The Ceres, Calif., native has four shutouts in her last five appearances and has allowed just one earned run over that span (35.0 innings).
Sacramento State scored once in the first inning by virtue of a Nevada error plating senior Amy Walter. Junior Erin Coyne added an insurance run in the seventh inning as she clubbed her second home run of the season.
Nevada’s Candice Rainwater (6-5) picked up the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) and five hits in seven innings of work.
Sacramento State returns to action this weekend as the team plays a pair of doubleheaders at San Diego on April 3-4.
