Running on the strength of sophomore pitcher/first baseman Jillian Bivert’s all tournament performance, the Hornet softball team made a respectable showing at the National Invitational Softball Tournament hosted by San Jose State this past weekend.

Although they finished 2-4 on the weekend, head coach Kathy Strahan noted some positives that she noticed during the three-day event.

“We are still trying to get everyone on the same page right now,” Strahan said. “When the pitching is there the hitting isn’t and when the hitting is there the defense and the pitching is not. But when we put it all together we have been really successful.”

Bivert was a mark of consistency all weekend for the Hornets, not only splitting time between pitching and playing first base, she also played the last two days of the tournament with a twisted ankle.

“Jillian was outstanding this weekend for us,” Strahan said. “She hobbled around the last two days on a hurt ankle but still provided us with some much needed offensive power and pitched really well for us.”

As the team’s lone representative on the all tournament team, Bivert finished the weekend with a .391 batting average including her first home run of the year as well as a 1.00 earned run average for her performances on the mound.

The Hornets defeated Purdue and Miami University (Ohio) while dropping games to ninth ranked Arizona State, Santa Clara, Southern Illinois, and San Jose State.

Freshman pitcher Nicole Deatherage had an up and down weekend dropping the first game of the tournament to Arizona State 5-1, but came back strong against Purdue with a 5-4 victory. Deatherage then shut down Miami (Ohio) with a stellar two-hit shut out before dropping the final contest to San Jose State 7-4, giving up all seven runs in the first inning. Deatherage is now 5-3 on the season with a pair of shut out.

Sophomore pitcher Gina Steenburgen dropped to 0-3 after giving up nine runs to Santa Clara on Saturday.

Senior catcher Patty Villa, junior outfielder Alison Norman, and sophomore shortstop Roni Rodrigues each added some offensive firepower throughout the weekend. Each player hit a home run this weekend as well.

The Hornets continue their season Tuesday against twelfth ranked Iowa, who lost to fourth ranked Cal in the championship game of the tournament, in their first home game of the season. Then the Hornets will host the Capital Classic at the Sacramento Softball Complex starting on Thursday, and running through Sunday.

“I hope that this past weekend will serve as an eye opener for us,” Strahan said. “It will be nice for us to play in Sacramento now and have the advantages of being at home for the first time this season.”