The Hornet softball team will kick off their 2001 campaign with an alumni game featuring two of the programs three All-Americans. Former three-time All-American and Olympic pitcher Susie Bugliarello will anchor the alumni against the present Hornet players.

Bugliarello tied an Olympic record for strikeouts in a single game with 15 against Cuba last year, while pitching for the Italian team.

“It will be a great experience to face a pitcher like her,” junior outfielder Yolanda Estrada said. “We won’t see anyone like her the rest of the season so it should be a great thing for us.”

Bugliarello etched her name into the NCAA record books while at Sac State and is currently 12th all-time in career strikeout ratio and 13th all-time in strikeouts.

“This is a great event for our team every season,” head coach Kathy Strahan said. “It is a great opportunity for the new players to meet the old players and for our team to play against some people that have gone on and played at a higher level. It is always a fun event.”

The Hornets, who are coming off of a productive fall season, scrimmaged against UC Davis last week to put some final touches on their game before the season begins.

“We played very well and gained some confidence for the season,” Estrada said. “Davis is a pretty good team and we played very well. I am very excited about the rest of the year.”