SACRAMENTO --
Lewa Day clubbed a 3-run homer, and pitchers
Caroline Evans and
Marissa Bertuccio combined to allow one run over 12 innings, as Sacramento State split a pair of games on the first day of the NorCal Kickoff.
Today marked the season opener for every team at the three-day tournament, including the Hornets who began the day with a 1-0 loss to Cal Poly, before posting a mercy rule shortened 8-0 victory against San Jose State.
The Hornets will also play at home tomorrow as part of the tournament against Middle Tennessee at noon. The tourney home page can be
found here.
Bertuccio was the tough luck losing pitcher in Game 1 despite allowing seven hits and one run with four strikeouts over seven innings. She threw 115 pitches and walked just two batters. In the five-inning win over San Jose State, Evans tossed a one-hit shutout while walking one and striking out four. The only hit she allowed was a leadoff single in the fourth inning.
Offensively,
Andrea Lira and
Alexis Parish both had four hits over two games, as Lira made an impressive debut in a Sacramento State uniform after transferring from Nevada. Day and
Kennedy Echols had three hits, and
Gwen Ludwig finished with a pair of hits.
The offensive highlight came from Day, who improved upon her school record by clubbing her 47th career home run against San Jose State. The senior hit a three-run blast to right field in the first inning that put the Hornets on top, 3-0. Sacramento State would later add four runs in the second inning and one more in the fourth to eventually enforce the mercy rule.
Sacramento State's offense combined to hit .412 with 21 hits during the day, while the pitching staff had a 0.58 ERA and eight strikeouts.
The Hornets had 10 hits against Cal Poly, but stranded eight runners on base. Day missed a two-run homer by one foot as her screaming line drive in the fifth inning hit high off Shea Stadium's left field wall.
Lira, Day, Parish and Echols hit safely in both games while Parish had multiple hits in both games. Lira began her Hornet career by going 3-for-3 against Cal Poly.
Sacramento State has two games remaining at the tournament - tomorrow's home tilt vs. Middle Tennessee, followed by a road matchup at UC Dais on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
