MILES COMBINES FOR NINE RBIs, CABRERA EXTENDS HITTING STREAK TO 18 GAMES IN SOFTBALL’S SWEEP OF SAN DIEGO

4/5/2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State’s offense combined for 24 runs, including nine RBIs from senior Rachel Miles, on the way to a sweep of San Diego in a Pacific Coast Softball Conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Shea Stadium. The Hornets won the first game, 11-0, before erasing a four-run deficit in the nightcap to win, 13-6.

The Hornets’ offense combined to bat .424 (25-for-59) with two doubles, two triples, four home runs and 21 RBIs today. Miles led the way, as the Antelope, Calif., native finished the day 4-for-7 with a triple, two home runs and nine RBIs. That included four RBIs in the first game and a career-high tying five in the second game.

In addition, senior Izmena Cabrera had hits in both games and has now tied the school record with an 18-game hitting streak (Lindy Winkler also accomplished the feat in 2006). In addition, senior Jamie Schloredt was never retired today as the Woodland, Calif., native finished 5-for-5 with two walks, four runs, a triple, a home run, three RBIs and a 2.000 slugging percentage. Sophomore right-hander Megan Schaefer (8-4) picked up the victory in both games, allowing just one earned run and 10 hits over 11.0 innings.

With the victories, Sacramento State (17-18, 3-1) completes the four-game series against San Diego with a 3-1 record as the two teams split a doubleheader yesterday. This week’s four-game series was the conference opener for both teams as San Diego dropped to 10-24 overall and 1-3 in the PCSC. The Hornets have also won seven of their last eight games and inched closer to the .500 mark, a place the team hasn’t been since the opening week of the season.

During the four-game set, Sacramento State averaged 10.3 runs per game and six different Hornets batted at least .500. Dating back to last season, Sacramento State, which won last year’s PCSC championship and advanced to the NCAA Regionals, has now won 11 of its last 12 conference games. Seven of those 11 wins have come against San Diego.

“Our offense continues to produce big numbers and we needed that today, especially in the second game,” Sacramento State head coach Kathy Strahan said. “Our pitching and defense (five errors today) need to get better and we are trying to get that fixed. We are a very good hitting team, but we need to be consistent in all aspects of the game”

In the opener, Sacramento State’s offense produced 11 runs and 11 hits, and Schaefer pitched five innings of shutout ball as the Hornets won a shortened mercy rule game by the score of 11-0 in five innings.

The Hornets scored once in the first, twice more in the fourth, and eight times in a fifth inning that saw the team send 12 batters to the plate. Each of the team’s first seven batters in the lineup recorded at least one hit, including two each from Miles, Schloredt, Desiree Beltran and Alyssa Nakken. Miles  finished with four RBIs (including a three-run triple in the fifth) while Schloredt slammed a two-run homer in the fourth inning, her sixth round tripper of the season.

Sacramento State had produced just one run and two hits through the first three innings off San Diego starter Jennifer Ellenbeck, but Schloredt’s home run in the fourth got the Hornet bats going. In fact, Ellenbeck (5-11) got pulled from the game in the fifth inning after allowing five straight hits. In that inning, seven straight Sacramento State batters eventually reached base safely.

Schaefer got the win, allowing four hits (all singles) while walking one and striking out one over five innings. Ellenbeck allowed eight runs (seven earned) and nine hits over 4.1 innings while Katie Jo Nelson pitched the final two-thirds of an inning.

In the second game, San Diego scored four times in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead, only to see Sacramento State score five times in the second, punctuated by a three-run homer from Miles. The Hornets never trailed the rest of the way as the team also scored once in the third inning, six times in the fifth and once more in the sixth.

Miles finished 2-for-3 with a walk and five RBIs, and she was one of six Hornets with multiple-hit games, including Beltran (2-for-5), Cabrera (2-for-4), Nakken (2-for-4), Schloredt (3-for-3) and Jenice Bartee (2-for-4). Miles, Cabrera, Nakken, Schloredt, Bartee and Jacquelyn Serrano each scored two runs as well.

Cabrera led off the third inning with a solo home run, and that round tripper extended her hitting streak to 18 games. During the 18-game stretch, Cabrera, who was a first team all-West Region selection last year, is batting .468 (29-for-62) with nine doubles, one triple, one home run and 15 RBIs.

Schaefer picked up the win in relief, pitching the final six innings while allowing six hits, two runs (one earned) while striking out five. Junior Brittani Clifford started the game for the Hornets, allowing four unearned runs in the first inning before Schaefer took over to begin the second.

Beltran had a pair of hits in both games today and raised her team-best batting average to .410. In six games this week, Beltran hit .619 (13-for-21) with seven RBIs.

Sacramento State concludes its season-long 15-game homestand next week when the team hosts a four-game series against PCSC rival Saint Mary’s. The Hornets and Gaels will play doubleheaders on both Friday, April 10, and Saturday, April 11, at noon.