QUICK HITS
• Sacramento State opens the 2023 season by co-hosting the
NorCal Kickoff this Thursday through Sunday, Feb. 9-12. The Hornets will host nine games over four days at Shea Stadium, and Sacramento State will play in five of those contests.
• The tournament field that will be at Shea Stadium consists of Sacramento State, UC Davis, Pacific, Rutgers, Santa Clara, Seattle and Utah Valley.
• There is one game on Thursday, three on both Friday and Saturday, and two on Sunday. The Hornets play once on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and twice on Sunday.
• Thursday: Sacramento State vs. UC Davis at 2:30 p.m. Friday: Rutgers vs. Utah Valley at 9:30 a.m.; Rutgers vs. Santa Clara at noon; Sacramento State vs. Utah Valley at 2:30 p.m. Saturday: Utah Valley vs. Santa Clara at 9:30 a.m.; Utah Valley vs. Pacific at noon; Sacramento State vs. Pacific at 2:30 p.m. Sunday: Sacramento State vs. Rutgers at 9:30 a.m.; Sacramento State vs. Seattle at noon.
• Live stats will be available for all nine games of the tournament.
• ESPN+ will, once again, be the home for Sacramento State home game video streams. Four of the Hornets' five games during the tournament will be streamed on ESPN+. Saturday's game vs. Pacific, however, will not have a stream because of a schedule conflict.
• Non-Sacramento State games during the tournament will not have a video stream.
• Multimedia links for all games can be found on the NorCal Classic home page at hornetsports.com. In addition, multimedia links for all Hornet games can be found next to each game on the softball schedule at hornetsports.com.
• This week will mark the season-opening games for every team in the tournament.
• The Hornets finished last year with a 30-25 overall record, 12-6 in the Big Sky Conference, and 15-6 at home. Sacramento State placed second in the league standings, and lost in the Big Sky Tournament championship game to Weber State.
• Since
Lori Perez became head coach in 2014, the Hornets are 95-57 in Big Sky play.
• Sacramento State was the co-favorites (along with Weber State) in the Big Sky preseason coaches poll. Both teams finished with 21 points in the poll with Weber State receiving three first place votes, and the Hornets two first place votes.
• The Hornets will have an experienced roster that returns 18 players, eight positional starters and four pitchers. The Hornets welcome seven newcomers to the program for a roster that consists of 25 players.
• For the sixth straight season, Perez will be joined in the dugout by associate head coaches
Vicky Rios and
Danielle Kaminaka.
Saige Pye enters her first season as volunteer assistant.
• Among the Hornets' positional starters returning are nearly the entire infield - catcher
Amber Rodriguez, second baseman
Rylee Gresham, shortstop
Nikki Barboza and third baseman
Lewa Day. In addition, starting outfielders
Samantha Parish (LF),
Kennedy Echols/
Alexis Parish (CF) and
Carley Morfey (RF) return, as well as designated player/utility
Lexie Webb.
• Sacramento State's roster features seven returning all-conference players, and three returning all-region players. That includes Big Sky Pitcher of the Year and third team all-Pacific Region selection
Marissa Bertuccio. Day was a second team all-region choice, and Webb was a third team all-region selection.
• Sacramento State is one of eight NCAA Div. I softball programs in Northern California. The Hornets will play each of the other seven in non-league play: UC Davis, California, Saint Mary's, Pacific, Stanford, Santa Clara and San Jose State.
• The five games played at this week's tournament will also mark Sacramento State's longest homestand of the season.
• Next week, the Hornets will play in the Puerto Vallarta Challenge for the second time ever, and first since the 2019 season. On paper, that will be the toughest tournament of the season with matchups against Tennessee, Kansas, Southern Illinois and North Dakota State.
