PREVIEW
• Sacramento State (22-14, 3-2 Big Sky Conference) will play five road games this week. That includes the Hornets' final non-conference games of the season - a doubleheader at Nevada (33-11) on Tuesday, followed by a three-game road series at Weber State (17-21, 5-4) Friday-Saturday.
• Tuesday's Nevada doubleheader begins at 1 pm, before jumping back into Big Sky play for a doubleheader at Weber State Friday at 1 pm PT, followed by a single game Saturday at 11 am PT.
• All five games will be video streamed. The Nevada games will stream on the Mountain West Network, and the Weber State games will stream on ESPN+.
• Only two weeks, and eight games, remain in the regular season before the Hornets travel to Pocatello, Idaho, for the Big Sky Tournament May 8-11.
• In fact, this week marks the final road games of the regular season. Sacramento State has excelled on the road, as the team is 9-4 when playing on an opponent's home field.
• Mother Nature has not been kind to the Hornets of late. After seeing their entire three-game series at Idaho State (April 5-6) washed away because of rain, the Hornets' home series this past weekend vs. Portland State was cut to two games after rain canceled Saturday's series finale.
• In Friday's doubleheader, Sacramento State won the first game, 2-1, behind Marissa Bertuccio's brilliant performance, followed by the Vikings taking the nightcap by a 5-0 score.
• Of the seven teams in the Big Sky, Sacramento State has played the least amount of conference games (5). Northern Colorado sits in first with a 7-2 record, followed by Portland State (5-3), Hornets (3-2), Weber State (5-4), Idaho State (3-3) and Montana (0-9).
• Only six games remain in conference play, and Sacramento State will likely not make up the four games it has lost to precipitation (three against Idaho State, one against Portland State).
• On Tuesday, the Hornets will play a Nevada team that has one of the best offenses in the country. The Wolf Pack are sixth in the country in batting average (.356), and eight of the team's nine starters are currently batting at least .320. Nevada also ranks first in the nation in doubles (83), fourth in stolen bases (103), fifth in slugging percentage (.606) and seventh in scoring (7.2 rpg).
• Weber State, which plays Utah on Wednesday, has lost five straight, which includes being swept in a three-game series at Northern Colorado this past week. The Wildcats opened the conference season with a 5-0 record, but have since dropped four straight Big Sky games.
• In the Hornets' fifth longest rivalry against any team, Sacramento State is 46-40 all-time vs. Nevada. The Wolf Pack have won five of the last six games in the series.
• The Hornets are 13-21 all-time vs. Weber State, and have lost five straight when playing the Wildcats on their home field (all five of those losses came in 2022).
• The Hornets are a combined 108-64 in Big Sky Conference play during Lori Perez's head coaching tenure. That includes conference championships in 2018 and 2023.
• Records/milestones set this year: Lewa Day career homers (56), runs scored (142) and RBIs (166). Haley Hanson single-season steals (17) and currently tied for career steals (40). Marissa Bertuccio fourth Hornet during Div. I era to register 500 career strikeouts. Both Day and Caroline Evans had four hits in win at New Mexico State, tying the Hornet single-game record.
• Led by two-time Big Sky Pitcher of the Year Marissa Bertuccio, the Hornet pitching staff's ERA of 2.82 is tops in the conference, and 56th in the nation (out of 296 Div. I teams). Bertuccio (1.70), Caroline Evans (3.13) and Savannah Wahl (3.88) are leading the way. Bertuccio, who is 11-5 this season with 96 strikeouts in 107 innings, has 13 complete games (29th in the nation).
• Led by Alexis Parish (.419), Haley Hanson (.361), Gwen Ludwig (.343) and Lewa Day (.324), the Hornets' .287 team batting average is second in the conference. However, the team has been limited to two runs or less in six of the last eight games.
• Haley Hanson's team-best 10-game hitting streak came to an end on Friday vs. Portland State.
• Lewa Day exited Friday's opening game vs. Portland State with injury after crushing a two-run homer in her only at-bat of the day. She is questionable to play this week.
• The Hornets are 18-3 when scoring first, and 4-11 when the opposition scores first.
• Sacramento State is 17-1 when leading after four innings, and 17-0 when leading after five.