Bad blood with the town of Davis is nothing new to Jamie Schloredt.

The freshman catcher on Sacramento State’s softball team grew up in Woodland and played softball at Woodland High, which has a long-standing rivalry with Davis Senior High. So when it came time for Schloredt’s current squad to face UC Davis with Causeway Cup points on the line she didn’t need to look for any more motivation.

“Woodland doesn’t like Davis,” Schloredt said. “I just don’t like ’em.”

Schloredt combined to go 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and three walks in leading Sac State to a double-header sweep of the Aggies (4-9) on Saturday at Shea Stadium by scores of 5-1 and 14-4, respectively.

After Hilary Johnson and Rachel Miles singled in the bottom of the first inning of game one, Schloredt lit into a Stacey Benzing pitch and sent high over the wall in left-center field for the second home run of her young career.

“I wasn’t sure if it was out ?” I hit it pretty high,” Schloredt said. “But then I looked up after I rounded first base and slowed down. – It’s always nice to get into that trot.”

The Hornets (6-9) added runs in the third and fourth innings as Nikki Cinque allowed just one un-earned run on three hits in seven innings of work. Cinque’s improved her record to 3-5 with an earned run average of 1.78. Cinque has been on the short end of several close games this season losing by scores of 3-2, 2-1, 1-0 and 5-3.

“It was good to see Nikki smile today,” Hornets coach Kathy Strahan said.

The Hornets made quick work of UCD in the nightcap, putting up 14 runs in support of starter Michele Bochenski (3-1) en route to a 14-4 eight-run rule victory.

Amy Jo McKenzie hit a three-run homer to cap a 10-run third for the Hornets.

Freshman third baseman Rachel Miles went 2-for-4 in the nightcap with a double and five RBIs.The two-game offensive explosion improved the Hornets’ team batting average 27 points from .220 before Saturday to .247 afterward.

“Today showed how well our team can hit,” McKenzie said. “It felt good having the whole team hit like that.”

The sweep also gave Sac State 2.5 more points in the Causeway Cup ?” the all sports trophy awarded based on head-to-head matchups with UCD ?” points standings. Sac State is now just 11 points shy of clinching its first Causeway Cup as the trophy is in its second year of existence. Sac State has now defeated UCD in softball nine-straight games dating back to February of 2004.

Bear clawedFor 11 games Jennifer Fryou waited for her first taste of playing time in the 2006 season. Last Friday she stepped into the circle against one of the nation’s best teams and made the most of it.The junior pitcher came in to relieve Bochenski in the nightcap of a double-header at ninth-ranked Cal and allowed just two runs (one earned) run in four and a third innings in her first work since last May.

“I’ve been waiting to get out there and pitch for a while,” Fryou said. “It was making me crazy.”Cal (10-2) ended up sweeping the double-header from Sac State by scores of 4-0 and 9-6, respectively, but Strahan said she was pleased with all aspects of the team’s effort.”I can’t look at the scores,” Strahan said. “That’s not an accurate measure of the work we’ve been putting in.”

Stiff CompetitionSo far the Hornets have played three teams ranked in the top 10 in the NFCA/USA Today Top 25 poll and the next time they step on the field it won’t be any easier. Following a 13-day layoff Sac State will play Nevada and No. 22 Oregon in the first round of the National Invitational Softball Tournament in Sunnyvale. The tournament also features Cal, No. 16 Arizona State and Colorado State (which is receiving votes) all teams the Hornets could face in the bracket portion of the tournament.

John Parker can be reached at [email protected]