SACRAMENTO -- After leading the Hornets to the Big Sky Conference regular season championship, a 29-18 overall record and a 14-7 conference mark, Sacramento State head softball coach Lori Perez was named the Big Sky's Coach of the Year.
The award is the first for Perez, who is currently in her fifth season as head coach at Sacramento State. The Hornets clinched their first-ever Big Sky regular season title last weekend on the final day of the regular season with an 8-0 road win at Montana. Sacramento State will be the No. 1 seed at this week's double-elimination Big Sky Tournament, which begins on Thursday in Ogden, Utah. The Hornets will host next year's postseason event by virtue of winning this year's regular season championship.
The conference title was the second in Sacramento State's Div. I era (1990-pres.), and 10th in program history. The 2008 team won the other Div. I conference title when it was crowned Pacific Coast Softball Conference champs in 2008. Perez was an assistant coach with that team. In addition, the team's 29 wins are the most since the 2008 team won 32. Sacramento State collected series wins against five of the Big Sky's other seven teams.
Seven Hornets received all-league accolades yesterday, highlighted by sophomore Suzy Brookshire being named the conference MVP and senior Celina Matthias named the Big Sky Pitcher of the Year. Three Hornets were named to the first team, including senior Zamari Hinton who leads the conference with a .407 batting average.
The Hornets have three winning streaks of at least five games long this season, and the team is 25-11 over its last 36 games. Sacramento State currently leads the Big Sky in pitching (2.90 ERA) while ranking second in both hitting (.286 batting average) and fielding (.968 fielding percentage).
The Hornets, who will receive a first round bye in the Big Sky Tournament, open the postseason event on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. PDT against either No. 4 seed Portland State or No. 5 Montana. Sacramento State will be seeking its first Big Sky Tournament title, and first NCAA Regional appearance since 2008. The Big Sky began sponsoring softball prior to the 2013 season.
SOFTBALL’S LORI PEREZ NAMED BIG SKY COACH OF THE YEAR
May 09, 2018
August 14, 2018
SOFTBALL SIGNS NEW MEXICO TRANSFER JENSEN MAIN
August 7, 2018
SOFTBALL’S VICKY RIOS ELEVATED TO ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
May 17, 2018
BROOKSHIRE AND MATTHIAS NAMED ALL-PACIFIC REGION
April 18, 2018
BATS GO SILENT AS SOFTBALL DROPS TWO AGAINST SAINT MARY’S
April 11, 2018
SOFTBALL WINS FIFTH IN A ROW, BEATS SANTA CLARA, 3-1
March 30, 2018
SOFTBALL SPLITS A DOUBLEHEADER ON THE ROAD AT WEBER STATE
March 21, 2018
RAIN CANCELS SOFTBALL’S GAME AT CAL
March 15, 2018
RAIN FORCES CHANGES TO NORCAL SOFTBALL CHALLENGE SCHEDULE
March 13, 2018
ALAS NAMED THE BIG SKY SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
February 22, 2018
MATTHIAS’ SHUTOUT LEADS SOFTBALL TO DOUBLEHEADER SPLIT WITH STANFORD
February 21, 2018
SOFTBALL HOSTS STANFORD THURSDAY FOR DOUBLEHEADER AT NOON
February 19, 2018
SOFTBALL FALLS TO UC RIVERSIDE, COMPLETES TOURNAMENT WITH A 2-3 RECORD
February 15, 2018
SOFTBALL TO PLAY FIVE GAMES OVER THREE DAYS NEAR PALM SPRINGS
February 10, 2018
SATURDAY’S SOFTBALL GAME AGAINST CAL CANCELLED
February 10, 2018
UC SANTA BARBARA USES LATE COMEBACK TO BEAT SOFTBALL
February 1, 2018
SOFTBALL SELECTED THIRD IN THE BIG SKY PRESEASON COACHES POLL
November 30, 2017
WINTER PROSPECT CLINIC RESCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY, JAN. 20
October 20, 2017
23 HOME GAMES HIGHLIGHT SOFTBALL’S 2018 SCHEDULE