SACRAMENTO --
Gwen Ludwig combined for five hits, and
Haley Hanson added four hits to help Sacramento State to a doubleheader split with Saint Mary's on Tuesday afternoon at Shea Stadium.
After dropping the first game, 3-2, the Hornets bounced back to win the nightcap by a 5-3 score. In that second game victory, the Hornets overcame a 3-2 deficit with three runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by freshman
Malissa George's two-out, two-run single.
Both teams have been very good this season, and two close games were expected. Saint Mary's moved its record to 18-10 while the Hornets are now 19-11. Sacramento State, now 7-3 at home, just concluded a season-high stretch of 11 straight games away from home and the Hornets were playing at Shea Stadium for the first time since March 3.
A pair of Sacramento State records were either matched or surpassed today.
Lewa Day scored a run in the second game, and her 141 career runs scored are the new program record, surpassing the 140 scored by former Hornet All-American Lindy Winkler. In addition,
Haley Hanson swiped a bag and is now 16-for-17 in stolen base opportunities this year. The 16 bags ties the Hornet Div. I era single-season record, originally set by Nene Alas in 2016. Hanson is just one steal shy of the Div. I era career record of 40, held by Hilary Johnson.
Sacramento State hit .340 (18-for-53) during the doubleheader, and the pitching staff allowed just five earned runs in 14.0 innings, good for a 2.50 ERA. Ludwig was 5-for-6 with a run and a pair of stolen bases, and upped her season average to .367. Hanson had a pair of hits in both games, and now has five straight games with multiple hits. Over that five game stretch, she is batting .667 (12-for-18), lifting her season average to .366.
Sacramento State had 13 hits in the second game, and plenty of opportunities to score more runs, but stranded 10 runners on base. After Saint Mary's took a 3-2 lead in the fifth, the Hornets scored three times on three hits in the sixth. That included a sacrifice fly from
Andrea Lira to tie things at 3-3, followed by George's huge two-run single scoring both Day and Ludwig.
Marissa Bertuccio pitched the seventh for her second save, and
Keeli Smith (2-0) got the win after working an inning of relief.
Savannah Wahl worked the first five innings.
Ludwig (3),
Alexis Parish (3), Hanson (2) and
Nikki Barboza (2) combined for 10 of the Hornets' 13 hits. Barboza got the start at second base (her second start of the season), and responded by going 2-for-3. It was Barboza that worked a pinch-hit, 12-pitch walk in the seventh inning of the first game to keep the Hornets alive.
In the first game, both teams were deadlocked at 2-2 before Saint Mary's scored an unearned run in the seventh and eventually won. The Hornets had a brief 1-0 lead after an inning, and tied things at 2-2 in the third.
Both Hornet runs in the contest were unearned as Sacramento State finished with five hits. Four of those hits came from the team's Nos. 1-2 hitters Hanson (2-for-4, 2 runs) and Ludwig (2-for-3). Day had the other hit.
Caroline Evans (4.0 IP) and Bertuccio (3.0 IP) both pitched. Bertuccio threw both games today in relief. The Hornets play again tomorrow at 19th-ranked California, and there is a chance Bertuccio starts that game.
Tomorrow's game at Cal will start at 3 p.m., and will be televised on Pac-12 Bay Area, and streamed on the Pac-12 Network.
