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Nobody’s perfect but now freshman pitcher Cassie Cervantes knows what it’s like to come awfully close. Cervantes struck out 17 batters while allowing just two hits and walking one in a complete-game shutout of Iowa in the nightcap of a softball doubleheader at Shea Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

“Cassie put on a pitching clinic today,” Hornets coach Kathy Strahan said. “That was a lot of fun to watch.”

The Hornets (11-10) split with the Hawkeyes, who are receiving votes in the NFCA Top 25 poll, earning a 6-0 victory in the nightcap after falling 6-1 in the first game.

After Stacy May led the game off with a single Cervantes struck out 14 of the next 15 batters she faced including eight in a row. In her previous start, she struck out 15 batters against Nevada on Saturday night at the National Invitational Softball Tournament. The 17 strikeouts on Wednesday were just one shy of the school record set by Susie Bugliarello in 1997.

“I was really surprised that I came that close to the record,” Cervantes said. “But now it’s something I can strive for (for the next three years).”

Anticipation and excitement built in the stands as fans were heard whooping and cheering with each successive swing and miss by an Iowa player or fist made by home plate umpire Dave Maudsley. Cervantes’ father, Tito, couldn’t even sit down and watched the game from the promenade behind home plate. Her mother Tena was heard to remark, “Way to go Mija (Spanish for “my daughter”)!” at points during the game.

By contrast, Iowa designated player Brandi Sargent knew better than anybody the frustration she and her Hawkeyes (12-9) felt. After her second strikeout looking Sargent looked at Maudsley and then to the cloudy sky for a long moment before walking back to the dugout shaking her head.

“I was all business today,” Cervantes said. “I like that intense feeling.”

The Hornets offense did its part, striking first in the bottom of the first inning on double to right field off Amy Jo McKenzie’s bat, which plated Lindy Winkler and Hilary Johnson. Sac State got its third run in the second inning on a line drive from Johnson which, glanced off the glove of Iowa first baseman Stephanie Ackerson which scored shortstop Amy Tompkins from third base. Junior outfielder Katie Rhoe slid into home just before May’s throw from deep in the infield got to Baugh off a sharply hit ball from Rachel Miles for the fourth run of the game.

The Hornets tacked on two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on singles from Gloria Toledo and McKenzie.

Sloppy defense and a solid performance from Hawkeyes starter Brittany Weil resulted in a 6-1 rout for Iowa in game one. The Hawkeyes struck for runs in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 3-0 lead. The Hornets, by contrast, committed errors in the third, fourth and fifth innings including two by Johnson.

Iowa then put the game out of reach with three runs in the fifth. The bulk of the damage in that inning was on a Kylie Murray single with two out and following a misplayed ball by Johnson and a hit batsman by Cinque.

The Hornets got their lone run on a Lindy Winkler double to the base of the wall in left centerfield which scored Ashley Dawson. Dawson had reached in the previous at-bat on a bloop single to left field.

An otherwise lackluster contest on the field was made a bit more entertaining by one in the stands. It all started when former Hornet men’s basketball players and Detroit natives James Payne and Aaron Perry began to heckle Iowa players from the third base grandstand. The Iowa dugout soon responded with coordinated chants in response to Payne and Perry. The small throng of Hawkeye faithful then got involved and eventually held the trump card chanting back, “Score-board.”

The Hornets are next on the field when they host the 14th Annual Capital Classic this Friday through Sunday at the Sacramento Softball Complex. Sac State plays at 12:30 on Friday against Wisconsin before taking on Southern Utah at 3 p.m. On Saturday the Hornets face Syracuse at 12:30 p.m. and Miami-Ohio at 5:30 p.m. Sac State concludes tournament play on Sunday at 11 a.m. against Utah State.

The tournament features ninth-ranked Cal, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Syracuse, Wisconsin and nine other schools from eight different states.

John Parker can be reached at [email protected]