Sacramento State’s softball team believes if it can “weather” its tough preseason competition that it will be in position for a conference title run.

Head coach Kathy Strahan schedules the best teams in the region ?” which happen to be among the best in the nation ?” to measure her team against.

“We don’t have to travel very far to sharpen and hone our skills,” Strahan said.

In its first three weeks of competition Sac State will have played three top-10 teams in UCLA, Stanford and Cal.

Sac State picked up a pair of wins in its first two games of the Stanford Invitational, beating Drake 5-1 on Friday and Pacific Coast Softball Conference rival Santa Clara 3-2 on Saturday. The Hornets then lost 1-0 to Birmingham Southern on Saturday before dropping a 7-0 contest to Stanford on Sunday.

“We have to do all the little things well when we play these teams,” Sac State senior center fielder Lindy Winkler said. “These games fine-tune us for conference.”

The strength of collegiate softball is on the West Coast and manifestly in the Pacific-10 Conference. In the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll, nine teams from the West Coast were ranked including, seven-of-eight Pac-10 schools.

Strahan said that the advantage is in the climate. West Coast and Southwest schools enjoy more mild winters than those in the Northeast and Midwest, and therefore can practice and play more. Add to that, most preseason tournaments ?” including Sac State’s Capital Classic, which is already booked through 2007 with 16 teams ?” are held on the West Coast for precisely the same reason.”The weather is certainly conducive to (being able to train),” Strahan said. “We really have a jump start on the teams that have to travel.”

For instance defending national champion and Top-ranked Michigan will not play a game on its home field until March 28 while flying to play in tournaments in Gainesville, Fla., Columbus, Ga., Tallahassee, Fla., Fullerton, Calif. and Louisville, Ky. Conversely, Stanford hosts three tournaments at Smith Family Stadium and leaves California for just one tournament ?” in Phoenix.

For programs in the region that aren’t ranked like Sac State, it likewise presents a major advantage in that they only need to drive a few hours to measure themselves against the nation’s best rather than spend the money and make the time-commitment to fly cross-country.

The Hornets played then-No. 2 UCLA in their second game of the season at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego two weeks ago. While they suffered a 22-3 loss to the Bruins, players and coaches agree that the experience gained from stepping on the field with them has made them better.

“I’m a firm believer that in order to get better, you must play teams that are better than you are,” Strahan said.

Junior pitcher Michele Bochenski, who is playing her first season of Div. I softball after transferring from Butte College and bore some of the brunt of that UCLA contest, said that even though the Hornets lost to both the Bruins and Stanford she gained confidence with each inning. “It’s not like, ‘Oh my god we’re playing them,’ anymore,” Bochenski said. “We know we can beat anyone in our conference after playing with (tougher teams). – If I hit my spots we can beat anyone ?” we won’t back down.”

The schedule doesn’t let up. On Friday Sac State makes the hour and a half trip Berkeley to play No. 8 Cal and two-time All-American pitcher Kristina Thorson in a noon double-header.”Facing those pitchers helps you be selective,” Winkler said. “You have to be more disciplined on pitches you hit.”

The Hornets then face Causeway-rival UC Davis in a doubleheader at noon on Saturday at Shea Stadium.

John Parker can be reached at [email protected]