The Sacramento State softball team returned home with a 4-8 overall record as they went 1-3 at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in Poway.

All six games were cancelled Sunday due to rain, including the Sac State?s match with Loyola. Stanford University won the tournament over the University of Pacific, based on a “runs allowed” tiebreaker. Stanford allowed only eight runs compared to Pacific’s six.

Sac State gained its only victory by defeating the University of Pittsburgh, 9-4, in the opening game of the Classic on Friday, but lost 12-7 to University New Mexico in the second game.

On Saturday, the Hornets lost to Florida International University, 5-1, in the first game, before getting thumped 8-1 by Northwestern University.

Junior Jillian Bivert spearheaded the Hornet attack against Pittsburgh, with two hits and two RBIs while junior Kirsten Wise recorded her first career Div. I victory in relief.

Wise allowed just one hit and one unearned run in 1 2/3 innings of work.

Sac State took control of the game offensively in the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Hornets rallied for seven runs and sent 11 batters to the plate.

Michelle Bariao kicked off the Hornets? rally by scoring from third on a throwing error. The Hornets managed to put four more runs on the board in the inning, before Bivert finished the rally with a two run single.

In the nightcap, the Hornets continued their offensive production, but lacked a solid outing from the pitching staff as New Mexico scorched the Hornets for 12 runs.

The Lobos were led by Brooke Chaffee’s four hits and four RBIs, as six different Lobo batters recorded at least two hits.

Hillel led the Hornet charge going 3-for-4 with a double as Sac State notched a season-high 12 hits. Erin Coyne went 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs and Bivert had a solid outing going 2-of-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs.

Bivert took the loss, allowing four runs and three hits in 1 1/3 innings of work.

“Offensively, our hits were scattered throughout the tournament. We could never put a good rally together,” coach Kathy Strahan said. “We need to definitely cash in on these opportunities when we have runners in scoring position.”

The Hornets dug themselves into an early hole against Florida International, as FIU scored one run in the first and added three more in the second after Laura Hanstein’s two run double. The Hornets scored their only run in the seventh on an RBI single by Cathy Coupar.

Cunningham’s six-game hitting streak came to an end, but both Coupar and Bivert continued to hit well. Bivert raised her average to .378 with two hits, and Coupar had two hits.

“I would have loved a different outcome,” Strahan said. “For us, it was always one part of our game that was lacking.”

In the nightcap, Gretchen Barnes led the charge for the Northwestern going 3-for-5, including two home runs and five RBIs.

The Hornets played well early, holding the Wildcats scoreless through the first three innings and taking a 1-0 lead after an Erin Coyne RBI double in the third. Coyne extended her hitting streak to five games with the double.

The one-run lead was short lived however. Barnes began the Wildcat charge, connecting on a two-run home run. The lead would grow in the fifth as Barnes hit her second home run, this time a three-run shot. Northwestern would add two more runs in the seventh inning.

Bivert (1-5) picked up the loss, giving up eight runs and 11 hits in seven innings.

The Hornets will now prepare for the University of California, Santa Barbara Invitational, which runs Friday through Sunday. They will play five games in three days against Brigham Young University, Providence College, University of Illinois, Iowa State University and California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

“We are definitely looking forward for this weekend in Santa Barbara,” Strahan said. “We feel good about our chances.”