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SACRAMENTO — Sacramento State split a pair of games on the first day of the NorCal Kickoff Softball Tournament at a cold Shea Stadium on Friday afternoon. The Hornets won their first game over CSU Bakersfield, 8-0, before falling in the nightcap to UC Santa Barbara, 12-6.

Playing in temperatures that hovered in the low 50s all day long, today's games served as the first of the season for all teams involved in the tournament. In the first game of the day, CSU Bakersfield defeated UC Santa Barbara, 4-3.

One of the highlights for Sacramento State was the brilliance of right-hander Savanna Corr. The fourth-year senior tossed a one-hit shutout in the win over CSU Bakersfield, facing the minimum number of batters over six innings while walking one and striking out a career-high tying seven. Corr did not allow a runner to advance past first base the entire way, and retired the final 10 batters she faced in succession.

As a team, Sacramento State hit .383 while combining for 14 runs and 23 hits over both games. A total of 20 players appeared in today's game for the Hornets, including eight that played in their first games in a Sacramento State uniform. One of those players, Katie Vretzos, who is a transfer from San Diego, combined to go 5-for-7 with a walk and a pair of RBIs. Suzy Brookshire went 4-for-7, and both Krystal Aubert and Nene Alas had three hits.

GAME 1

Corr's brilliance in the circle, combined with an offense that pounded out eight runs and 10 hits ended the game against CSU Bakersfield in the sixth inning because of the mercy rule. Sacramento State scored in every inning but the third, and put up crooked numbers in the first and fifth.

Seven different Hornets had hits in the game, including multiple-hit games from Brookshire (2-for-4 with a run and RBI), Aubert (2-for-3 with a double and RBI), and Vretzos (2-for-3 with a walk, run and RBI). Sydney Rasmussen, who had a pair of sparkling defensive plays, reached base safely three times, finishing 1-for-2 with two hit-by-pitches, a stolen base and two runs scored.

Nene Alas had a double, run, walk and an RBI, and Sydnee Strong had a double. In her first plate appearance as a Hornet, true freshman Shea Graves had a triple and would later come around to score.

Sacramento State scored three times in the first inning, once in both the second and fourth, twice in the fifth, and Vretzos walked things off with an RBI-single scoring Charizma Guzman in the sixth.

Corr needed just 85 pitches to earn the shutout while three Bakersfield pitchers all got hit around. Kiara Acevedo picked up the loss, allowing three runs and three hits in two-thirds of an inning.

GAME 2

All four Sacramento State pitchers on the roster made appearances in the loss to UC Santa Barbara, and combined to issue nine walks and hit two batters. The Gauchos also took advantage of four Hornet errors as four of their runs were unearned.

UC Santa Barbara, which got the leadoff batter aboard in the every inning but the sixth, scored 12 times on 11 hits. Sacramento State outhit the Gauchos, 13-11.

The Hornets took a 3-1 lead in the first inning after a Brookshire sacrifice fly was followed by an Aubert two-run homer, but that lead was short-lived as UCSB scored once in both the first and second innings, three times in the third, twice in the fourth, once in the sixth, and four times in the seventh.

The Hornet offense played well, putting runners on base in every inning, and four players had multiple-hit games. The two teams combined to strand 24 runners on base in a game that lasted nearly three hours and featured light rain the final two innings.

Alas finished 2-for-4 with two runs and a double, Brookshire was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, Mo Spieth 2-for-4 with an RBI and Vretzos 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI. Those four players combined to account for nine of the Hornets' 13 hits.

For Sacramento State, Jensen Main took the loss, allowing five runs (three earned) over 2.1 innings. Danielle Sperry, Alyssa Nunez and Corr also pitched in the game. Emily Schuttish got the win in relief, allowing six hits and two runs over the final 5.1 innings.

Sacramento State will play twice more tomorrow as part of the three-day tournament. That includes games against Santa Clara at noon, and Nevada at 2:30 p.m. For tournament information and schedule, please click here for the tournament home page.