SERIES PREVIEW
• Winners of five of the last six games, Sacramento State (21-13, 5-1) jumps back into Big Sky Conference play this week when it hosts a three-game series against Weber State (7-23, 1-2).
• The teams will play a doubleheader at Shea Stadium on Friday at noon, followed by a single game on Saturday at noon.
• The Hornets and Wildcats were selected as co-favorites to win this year's Big Sky title in the preseason coaches poll. They faced each other in last season's Big Sky championship game in Ogden with Weber State coming out on top.
• All three games this week will air on ESPN+ with play-by-play man Will Schilling calling the action. Reminder all multimedia links can be found on the softball schedule at hornetsports.com.
• Sacramento State had its five-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday when it fell to Cal, 7-0. It marked just the third time in the last 27 games the Hornets have been shut out.
• The Hornets easily rank atop the Big Sky with a 2.87 team ERA, and a Sacramento State hurler has earned Big Sky Pitcher of the Week honors seven consecutive weeks.
• Weber State is a surprising 7-23, and pitching has been an issue. Usually a stout pitching staff, the Wildcats have a team ERA of 6.53, which ranks 285th in the nation among the 295 Div. I schools. Weber State hurlers have given up 52 runs in the last six games.
• Sacramento State sits in first place in the Big Sky with a 5-1 record. Portland State is a game back at 4-2. Only nine conference games remain this season, and the Hornets will play six of those at home (April 29-30 vs Idaho State) and three on the road (April 21-22 at Portland State).
• The Hornets are 11-6 at home this season, which includes opening Big Sky play by taking two of three vs. Northern Colorado. The Hornets swept a road series at Montana last week.
• The Hornets remain the only team in the six-member Big Sky that currently has an overall record above the .500 mark. Northern Colorado is 14-18, and Portland State is 13-18.
• Sacramento State is 100-58 in league play during head coach Lori Perez's tenure. That included a second place finish a year ago and an appearance in the Big Sky championship game. Perez is the second winningest coach in Big Sky history, behind Weber State's Mary Kay Amicone.
• Sacramento State is 11-19 all-time vs. Weber State, and the Wildcats have been a thorn in the Hornets' side. Weber State won all five meetings between the two teams last season (all five in Ogden, including two in the Big Sky Tourney).
• Overall, Weber State has won 10 of the last 11 games between the two teams.
• The Hornets are 6-6 at Shea Stadium vs. Weber State, but have dropped three straight. The last Hornet win over the Wildcats at Shea Stadium came on March 25, 2017. The teams have played just three times in Sacramento since then (a Weber State 3-game sweep in 2021).
• Leanda Coronado had her 11-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday vs. Cal. That 11-game streak is the longest by any Sacramento State player this season.
• Lewa Day's 43 career home runs are one shy of the program record of 44, set by Suzy Brookshire.
• Speaking of Day, she is riding a career-high nine game hitting streak. She also had an eight-game streak earlier this season.
• In six Big Sky games, the Hornets have a team ERA of 1.00. That includes Marissa Bertuccio (1-0, 0.00), Savannah Wahl (3-0, 0.32) and Caroline Evans (1-1, 2.69). Overall, the staff has a 2.87 ERA.
• Bertuccio is attempting to win Big Sky Pitcher of the Year honors for the second straight season. She is 11-6 with a 1.76 ERA and .243 opponent batting average.
• Bertuccio's 5.3-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio is the 39th best mark in the nation, and she has gone 19.2 straight innings without issuing a free pass.
• Savannah Wahl, the reining Big Sky Pitcher of the Week, has thrown shutouts in each of her last two starts - 5-hitter vs Nevada; 7-hitter at Montana. Over that two-game stretch, she lowered her season ERA from 5.46 all the way down to 3.85.
• Rylee Gresham has a five-game hitting streak; six Hornet starters are hitting above .300.