Big Sky Championship Central

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento State broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning after Kayla Papez laced a one-out, RBI-single to right field scoring Sydney Rasmussen as the Hornets beat Portland State, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game Big Sky Conference softball series on Saturday afternoon at Shea Stadium.

After both teams endured a one hour, 11-minute rain delay, it was Sacramento State (26-20, 15-6) that completed a three-game sweep of Portland State (14-33, 7-14) in the final regular season contest of the season for both teams. The Hornets won both games of a doubleheader against the Vikings yesterday, which included a 10-2 six-inning, mercy rule shortened win as well as an 8-5 victory.

Sacramento State will be the No. 2 seed for next week's Big Sky Championship (May 12-14) in Ogden, Utah. Weber State defeated Montana today by a 9-7 score, and was able to lock up the No. 1 seed and the right to host the Big Sky's postseason event. Had Weber State lost today's game, the Hornets would have been the No. 1 seed and tournament host.

By virtue of the No. 2 seed, the Hornets will receive a first-round bye and play their first game of the tournament on Thursday at 4 p.m. PDT against either Idaho State or Portland State. Tournament seeds are as follows: No. 1 Weber State, No. 2 Sacramento State, No. 3 Idaho State, No. 4 Montana, No. 5 Southern Utah and No. 6 Portland State. The tournament is a double elimination format and features four games on both Thursday and Friday, and potentially three games on Saturday. The winner of the Big Sky Championship receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals, set to begin on May 20.

For complete tournament information, including matchups, please click here.

Meanwhile, the Hornets completed a regular season where they were nearly unbeatable at home, going 13-2 in the friendly confines of Shea Stadium, including a perfect 9-0 record against Big Sky opposition. At home, Sacramento State pulled off three-game sweeps of conference foes North Dakota, Southern Utah and Portland State.

During this week's three-game sweep, the Hornets hit .312 as a team and had four players hit better than .420 in the series, comprised of Sasha Margulies (.455), Shelby Johnston (.444), Zamari Hinton (.429) and Kailey Olcott (.429). Margulies had five hits in the series, extended her streak of reaching base safely to 23 straight games, and improved her season batting average to .401. Hinton missed today's game after suffering an injury yesterday while colliding with shortstop Sydney Rasmussen on a play in the infield, but she should be fine for next week's tournament.

Rasmussen, a true freshman, had an incredible game today, reaching base safely in all three plate appearances, going 1-for-1 with two runs scored, a home run, stolen base, walk, hit-by-pitch and season-high four RBIs. She clubbed a three-run homer in the second inning - her first collegiate round tripper - which gave the Hornets an early 3-0 lead.

After Portland State got a run back in the third inning, the Hornets increased their lead to 5-1 in the fourth after Rasmussen was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and an Olcott sacrifice fly scored Sydnee Strong from third base. Strong, a true freshman, was inserted into the lineup in left field because of the Hinton injury while Papez shifted from her normal left field spot to second base.

The Vikings were able to tie the score at 5-5 with four runs in the sixth inning, capped by a three-run homer from Brianna Celaya.

However, Sacramento State bounced right back in the bottom of the sixth inning. Rasmussen opened the frame with a walk before being sacrificed to second base by Olcott. That brought up Papez, one of four seniors who were honored prior to the game for their contributions to the program. The fourth-year senior promptly lined the first pitch into right field which brought home Rasmussen from second base. Papez is now hitting .310 in conference play.

Hornet right-hander Celina Matthias (19-12) needed just five pitches to set down the Portland State side in order in the seventh inning and notch her 19th win of the season. The sophomore's 19 wins are the most by a Hornet since three-time All-American Susie Bugliarello had 21 victories in 1997. Matthias needs just one win to become the fourth Sacramento State pitcher in the Div. I era (1990-pres.) to post 20 wins in a season. Tami Blunt (24 in 1993), Bugliarello (21 in 1997, 20 in 1995) and Amy Day (20 in 1992) are the others.

Matthias got the victory today, allowing five runs and five hits over seven innings. Portland State's Meagan Hendrix (4-12) picked up the loss in relief, allowing two hits and one run over the final three innings.

The Hornets finished the game with six hits, including a multi-hit game from Johnston who was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and her 10th stolen base of the season. Papez, Margulies, Kortney Solis and Rasmussen had the other hits. Sacramento State's Nos. 6-9 hitters scored all five runs including Johnston (2), Strong (1), Natalie Alas (1) and Rasmussen (1).

Papez was joined by Margulies, Solis and pitcher Kaitlyn Yerby as the four Sacramento State seniors honored prior to the game.