SAN DIEGO -- Sacramento State's
Nikki Barboza (3) and
Andrea Lira (3) combined for six hits over two games, but it was not enough as the Hornets dropped a pair of games on Saturday afternoon at SDSU Softball Stadium.
One day after playing 6th-ranked UCLA (21-4) in Los Angeles, the Hornets (12-11) traveled to San Diego for a pair of games this afternoon. Sacramento State fell to San Diego State, 5-2, in its first matchup, before losing to UCLA, 11-1, in five innings.
In what will likely amount to the toughest two-day stretch of the season, Sacramento State played the nation's sixth-ranked team twice, and lost to a San Diego State team (15-8) that had been ranked every week of the season in the top 25 until dropping out on Monday.
A rare sighting, Sacramento State's offense was held down today. The Hornets were 11-for-47 (.234) with three doubles and two RBIs over two games. For just the third time all season, Sacramento State went back-to-back games without homering.
However, there were some highlights as both Barboza and Lira went 3-for-5 today with a run and a double. In addition, freshmen
Madison Evers-Lyles and
Shannon Garcia had hits in both games, and extended their lengthy hitting streaks. Evers-Lyles now has a nine-game hit streak (longest of the season by a Hornet) while Garcia has hit safely in eight straight games.
Those four players - Barboza, Lira, Evers-Lyles and Garcia - combined to go 10-for-20 with three doubles today. However, the rest of the lineup was 1-for-27. The only other hit was a
Malissa George single against San Diego State.
The Hornets used four pitchers in today's games, including
Alexa Ortiz,
Kyndal Williams,
Kennedie Magorian and
Caroline Evans. Ortiz was extremely effective against San Diego State, tossing 4.0 innings of relief, allowing just two hits (both singles) with a walk and two strikeouts. Aztec batters hit just .154 when Ortiz was in the circle.
Sacramento State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against San Diego State, but the Aztecs responded with three runs in the second and two more in the third. There was no more scoring after the third inning.
The Hornets' schedule doesn't get much easier next week as the team plays a pair of former Pac-12 Conference teams. That includes Wednesday's home game against California (3 pm start), and a three-game series at Oregon State over the weekend.
