• Sacramento State opens the 2024 season by co-hosting the NorCal Kickoff this Friday through Sunday, Feb. 9-11. The Hornets will host games on Friday and Saturday, while UC Davis will host games Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• The tournament field that will play at Shea Stadium consists of Sacramento State, Cal Poly, San Jose State and Middle Tennessee.
• Sacramento State will host three games on Friday, and two more on Saturday.
• Friday: Cal Poly vs. San Jose State at 9:30 a.m.; Cal Poly vs. Sacramento State at noon; San Jose State vs. Sacramento State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday: Middle Tennessee vs. Cal Poly at 9:30 a.m.; Middle Tennessee vs. Sacramento State at noon. The Hornets will also play Sunday at UC Davis (2:30).
• Live stats will be available for all five games at Shea Stadium. Both Hornet games on Friday will be streamed on ESPN+ with Will Schilling calling the action. Sacramento State's game vs. Middle Tennessee on Saturday will not be streamed because of a scheduling 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 Kickoff 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.
• ESPN+ will, once again, be the home for nearly all Sacramento State home game video streams.
• This week will mark the season-opening games for every team in the tournament.
• Sacramento State finished last season with a 27-20 overall record and 10-5 league mark. The Hornets were co-Big Sky regular season champions, sharing the title with Idaho State.
• Since Lori Perez became head coach in 2014, the Hornets are 105-62 in Big Sky play.
• The Hornets were selected third in the Big Sky preseason coaches poll. Sacramento State, which had a first place vote, was selected behind Idaho State and Northern Colorado. It was Northern Colorado that won last year's Big Sky Tournament crown.
• The Hornets boast an experienced roster that returns eight positional starters and three pitchers. The list of returners include three first team all-league selections (pitcher Marissa Bertuccio, third baseman Lewa Day, pitcher/first baseman Caroline Evans), as well as a pair of second teamers (middle infielder Gwen Ludwig, outfielder Jada Walker).
• Bertuccio has earned Big Sky Pitcher of the Year accolades each of the last two seasons, and Evans was a first team all-West Region choice in 2023.
• The Hornets welcome six newcomers to the squad, and will field a roster of 23 players. The roster features 17 players that played for the Hornets a year ago.
• For the seventh straight season, Perez will be joined in the dugout by associate head coaches Vicky Rios and Danielle Kaminaka.
• Among the returning positional starters are the entire infield - catcher Katie Marsh, first baseman Samantha Parish, second baseman Ludwig, shortstop Leandra Coronado and third baseman Day. In addition, starting outfielders Alexis Parish (LF) and Jada Walker (CF) return, as well as designated player Lexie Webb.
• Coronado, Marsh and Samantha Parish were honorable mention all-Big Sky selections. In total, the Hornets' roster features eight returning all-conference players, and two returning all-region players (Bertuccio was a third team all-West Region selection).
• In the circle, Bertuccio is joined by returners Evans and Savannah Wahl, as well as newcomers Jenna Birch and Keeli Smith.
• Sacramento State is one of eight NCAA Div. I softball programs in Northern California. The Hornets will play each of the other seven teams in non-conference play: UC Davis, California, Pacific, Stanford, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara and San Jose State.
• The NorCal Kickoff is one of two tournaments Sacramento State will host this season, including the Capital Classic on Feb. 29-March 3.
• Sacramento State begins its 35th season as a Div. I program (1990-pres.).