She did it again.

While Sacramento State pitcher Nikki Cinque and catcher Joanna O’Neil were teammates at Sheldon High School in Elk Grove, Cinque broke O’Neil’s glove with a hard pitch the day before the team went to the section playoffs.

Wednesday before Sacramento State softball’s double-header with Nevada, it happened again.

“I’ve only had three gloves break in my life,” O’Neil said tongue-in-cheek. “Nikki has broken two of them.”

The two reunited Wednesday in the second game of a double header against Nevada at Shea Stadium; battery mates for the first time since they won a Sac-Joaquin section championship their final year with the Huskies in 2002.

O’Neil has been with the Hornets ever since while Cinque spent two years at Sacramento City Junior College before transferring prior to this season.

“I enjoy catching Nikki; it’s like being home again,” O’Neil said. “It’s like intuition, I can read what she’s thinking and she can read what I’m thinking.”

The pair used that intuition go out and post a shutout in the nightcap on the visiting Wolf Pack as the Hornets won game two 3-0.

Cinque surrendered six hits and struck out four hitters en route to her fourth win of the season; her record in her first Sac State season stands at 4-1.

“My change up was working really well today, it sets up everything else,” Cinque said. “I love my change up.”

The change up kept the Wolfpack off balance all afternoon as they only mounted one serious threat to score, which came in the third inning.

With the bases loaded and one out, Cinque induced two grounders, the first charged by freshman shortstop Amy Tompkins who fired it to O’Neil to retire Nevada catcher Tyler Schafer at the plate. The second was fielded on one hop by freshman Teri Ann Caoagan at first as she tagged out the batter, Wolf Pack shortstop Brittany Lorenzen.

“Whenever Nikki pitches we know we’ll get some ground balls, that’s her game,” Sac State coach Kathy Strahan said. “Those were two big plays made by freshmen standing in and making big plays.”

The Hornets got all three of their runs in the fifth inning.

After an Amy Hillel single and a sacrifice bunt from Tompkins, O’Neil hit a ball that glanced off Nevada starting pitcher Tiffany Hoeft and into the arms of Lorenzen. Lorenzen then tried to get Hillel out at third but Hillel stopped short, forcing Wolf Pack third baseman Jiliane Hartfield to try and throw her out at second. Hartfield threw it over the head of second baseman Jenny Drew and Hillel got to third on the play.

That set up a two-RBI double from Winkler and an RBI ground out from Lesley Mayhorn, who finished the day combining to go 2-for-6 with two RBIs and a run scored. That included a 2-for-3 performance in the first game which the Hornets also won, 2-1.

“I’ve really felt comfortable with my swing lately,” Mayhorn said. “I’m really confident in myself and the team right now.”

A Teri Ann Caoagan single to left field plated Mayhorn in the fourth after she reached on an error and was advanced by an Erin Coyne sacrifice bunt and an Amy Jo McKenzie ground out.

The 1-0 lead was short lived as Nevada first baseman Kari Stockstill homered off of Hornet starting pitcher Brianne Ferguson to lead off the inning.

Sac State rallied in the bottom of the fifth as Gloria Toledo singled up the middle with one out and was advanced by an Ashley Dawson sacrifice bunt. Winkler then reached on a dropped ball by Wolf Pack second baseman Kristin Stith which brought Mayhorn back to the plate.

Mayhorn deposited Candice Rainwater’s pitch into center field for an RBI single to put the Hornets up 2-1.

Ferguson made the lead stick, retiring six of the final seven batters to cinch her fifth win of the year compared to just one loss coming at Arizona State Feb. 13.

The Hornets embark on a seven game road trip starting this Friday when they travel to Palo Alto for a weekend tournament at Stanford and then play a double header at UC Davis March 2. They return to Shea Stadium Saturday March 5 for a double header against San Jose State.