SACRAMENTO -- Sacramento State stranded 12 runners on base, including at least one in every inning, as the Hornets fell to Weber State, 6-4, on Saturday afternoon at Shea Stadium.
The Wildcats (21-27, 7-5) and Hornets (22-20, 7-5) now sit in a tie for second place in the Big Sky Conference standings with just three league games remaining. Weber State took two of three in the series, as the two teams split a doubleheader yesterday.
Today was a very important game, as Weber State now owns the tiebreaker over Sacramento State should the two teams finish in a tie for second place. The reason that's important is the top two seeds at the Big Sky Tournament (May 6-9 in Greeley, Colo.) receive a first round bye at the four-day double elimination event.
Idaho State (11-1) clinched the Big Sky regular season title today, and the Hornets will play three games at Montana (1-11) next week while Weber State hosts Northern Colorado (5-6).
The Hornets and Wildcats played in front of a large crowd of 817, as today was Senior Day. Hornet seniors
Lafulafu Malepeai,
Nikki Barboza,
Caroline Evans and
Gwen Ludwig were honored prior to the game for their contributions to the program.
Weber State never trailed, scoring twice in the second inning and four times in the third. Of those six runs, only two were earned as Sacramento State had a critical error in the third. The Hornets chipped away, scoring once in the fourth and three times in the fifth, but did not get closer.
The Hornets stranded 12 on base, and were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position while Weber State stranded just four runners and was 4-for-9 with RISP. Sacramento State got its runs on a fourth inning error allowing
Katie Marsh to score, and in the fifth, a
Madison Evers-Lyles home run, and pinch-hit, 2-run single from
Faith Epperson.
Sacramento State threatened in both the sixth and seventh innings. The Hornets left multiple runners aboard in the second (3), fourth (2), fifth (2) and sixth (2) innings.
The Hornets had a pair of pitchers who were effective in the circle, including
Danyelle Leone (3.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 K), and
Alexa Ortiz who struck out the side in the seventh.
Eight different Hornets had hits, led by Evans' 2-for-4 performance. Evers-Lyles' home run improved her hitting streak to seven games, and she now has a team-high tying eight home runs.
Sacramento State has just five games left in the regular season, including two non-league games at home. That includes Tuesday at home vs. 15th-ranked Stanford prior to playing a three-game series at Montana on Friday-Saturday. The Hornets' final regular season game is Wednesday, April 20, vs. Pacific.
