During a cloudy practice last Friday Cassie Cervantes was alone in right field shagging batting practice fly balls ?” no one within 20 yards of her. Suddenly the clouds separated and a ray of sunlight seeped through and illuminated just Cervantes ?” a spotlight of sorts courtesy of Mother Nature.

That seems fitting enough as the freshman pitcher from Red Bluff has been in the spotlight lately for the Hornets, breaking program records and helping to lead an incredible run in which the team has won 13 of 14 games.

Records that took Susie Bugliarello ?” a three time All-American pitcher for the Hornets in the late 1990s and a two-time Olympian for team Italy ?” four years to establish, Cervantes broke in a four-day span in mid-March. March 15 against Iowa, Cervantes broke the seven-inning strikeout record by fanning 17 Hawkeyes. The following Saturday she struck out 19 in 11 innings against Syracuse at the Capital Classic to break the all-time single game record.”I didn’t know I was breaking records when it happened,” the reserved, unassuming Cervantes said. “It’s exciting though, to strive to break my own records now and set more.”

Cervantes hasn’t been the only one thrilled with each successive swing and miss; her battery mate and fellow freshman, catcher Jamie Schloredt, has the best seat in the house to witness the good and the bad.

“It’s been really exciting for me,” Schloredt said. “I have a front-row seat.”

But it hasn’t always been this way. Cervantes admittedly didn’t pace around the circle with the same authority as she does now. Very literally she had to comeback before beginning her career.Cervantes came into the second inning of the Hornets’ second game of the season, her first appearance in a Sac State uniform, against No. 2 UCLA, defending national runner-up. UCLA won that game 22-3 but crushed more than the ball from the bats of Bruin hitters was Cervantes’ confidence.

“I – thought of them as being in a league of their own,” Cervantes said. “It was nerve-wracking, overwhelming. Cervantes walked 10 batters in that game while only retiring three and threw three wild pitches in an inning of work. “I didn’t overpower them, I let (the situation) overpower me.”

She faced much the same situation at the Stanford Tournament 10 days later against the seventh-ranked Cardinal where she started the game but left after recording just one out ?” a strikeout to open the game ?” five walks and a hit while walking in two runs.”I couldn’t watch it anymore,” Kathy Strahan said. “I didn’t want to watch her struggle like that.”

Strahan walked out to replace Cervantes with Michele Bochenski and according to the coach, Cervantes looked at her and said in cracking high voice, “I’m sorry coach.” “It broke my heart,” Strahan said.

Strahan and Cervantes both attribute the loss of confidence to slight changes in her pitching style made a few months before the season. The coaches wanted Cervantes to develop an off-speed pitch to supplement her 70 mph rising fastball ?” which is equivalent to a 100 mph fastball on a baseball diamond. But the changes took Cervantes out of her comfort zone and the result was a lack in focus, Cervantes said.

So rather than let her lose anymore confidence in her pitching Strahan made the decision to sit Cervantes after the Stanford Tournament while she got back to her previous style.

Cervantes didn’t pitch in a game for three weeks before starting against Nevada at the National Invitational Softball Tournament in Sunnyvale on March 11.

“I knew it wouldn’t take long and I credit her for the quick turnaround time,” Strahan said. “She’s come back like a freight train.”

Cervantes struck out 15 Wolf Pack hitters and only gave up one hit over seven innings in a 5-2 triumph, which marked the first win of her career.

“It gave me the confidence,” Cervantes said. “To know I can beat a (Division I) team, it was comforting.”

After that the records started falling as the Iowa and Syracuse games followed. Since that rainy night in Sunnyvale, Cervantes has won five games while striking out 78 batters and allowing eight hits in 38 innings.

And as Cervantes continued to chase down teammates’ batting practice hits on Friday a rainbow shot up into the sky in the distance behind the field. Another natural phenomenon but also perhaps a symbol for how far the Hornets’ newest pitching phenom can go.

John Parker can be reached at [email protected]