• Off to its best start in 31 years, Sacramento State (18-8) returns for three games this weekend at Seattle (14-10). The Hornets and Redhawks will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m., and a single game Sunday at noon. Rain is in the forecast both days in Seattle.
• Sacramento State is coming off a 4-1 home loss to Utah Valley on Tuesday. The Hornets are currently riding their first losing streak of the season (three games).
• All three games this weekend will stream on ESPN+. In fact, beginning Saturday, the Hornets will play 12 straight games (and 24 of the next 25) on ESPN+.
• Last week, the Hornets went 2-3 at the Jane Sanders Classic in Eugene. In what will amount to be the toughest week of opponents this season for Sacramento State, the Hornets more than held their own as two of the losses were by a single run (L, 7-6; L, 2-1) at 18th-ranked Oregon. Sacramento State had a win over Nevada (ranked sixth in the mid-major poll) and Oregon State.
• At 18-8, the Hornets have their best 26-game record since the 1995 squad had a 23-3 mark.
• Sunday's loss to Oregon State was the Hornets' first of the season on a neutral field (9-1).
• Saturday's 2-1 loss to #18 Oregon, and Sunday's 8-0 loss to Oregon State marked the first time the Hornets lost back-to-back games all season. 
• Sacramento State is 11-4 away from home (2-3 road, 9-1 neutral). In those 15 games, Sacramento State's pitching staff has a 2.74 ERA while holding opponents to a .239 batting average and 3.1 runs per game. Offensively, Sacramento State is batting .292 with 5.1 runs per contest.
• A Sacramento State hurler had won Big Sky Conference Pitcher of the Week honors each of the first four weeks of the season until that streak was snapped on Monday.
• The Hornets are currently 81st in the latest NCAA RPI report, the program's highest ranking in recent memory. The next closest Big Sky Conference team is Idaho State at 118.
• The Hornets have yet to lose a game when scoring first (12-0), and have yet to fall when out-hitting the opposition (14-0). Sacramento State is also 16-2 when scoring at least three runs.
• Sacramento State likes to do damage early. The Hornets have outscored the opposition, 42-18, in the first two innings. That includes 27-15 in the first, and 15-3 in the second.
• Sacramento State is 2-3 all-time vs. Seattle, with each of those matchups coming between 2012 and 2023. The Hornets have never played the Redhawks in Seattle (0-1 at home, 2-2 neutral).
• Despite allowing 34 runs over the last six games, Sacramento State's team ERA of 2.29 is the 17th best mark in the nation, and its 1.28 WHIP is 31st in the country.
• The Hornets have laid down 21 sacrifices this year (7 from Madi Mendoza), which is the sixth best mark in the nation. By comparison, opponents have sacrificed just nine times vs. the Hornets.
• Sacramento State has five walkoff wins this season, including two walkoff homers by Malepeai. The team's 7-6 win over Oregon State was their most recent walkoff.
• What makes the Hornets' 18-8 record even more remarkable is they are playing without four starters to injury. That includes outfielder Andrea Lira (missed all 26 games), first baseman Alexa Carino (missed all 26 games), second baseman Jenna Birch (missed the last 12 games) and catcher Katie Marsh (missed the last 10 games).
• Nevada transfer Saskia Raab, who hit a grand slam in the ninth inning to beat her former team last Friday, had reached base safely in each of the first 25 games of the season until that streak ended on Tuesday vs. Utah Valley. Her .392 batting average leads the team. 
• After committing just 23 errors in the first 22 games of the season, the Hornets have 10 errors in their last four games.
• Hornet pitching has given up just six home runs this season, or one every 114 at-bats. By comparison, Sacramento State's offense has 22 round trippers, or one every 31 at-bats.
• Sacramento State returned 19 players - five pitchers and eight positional starters - from last season's team that went 27-23 overall and 10-5 in the Big Sky. The Hornets, who have finished first or second in the Big Sky each of the last four years, were picked third in the preseason coaches poll.