Groundhog Day was more than two months ago but lately Kathy Strahan has been waking up to relive the same nightmare.

The Sacramento State softball coach has witnessed an identical pattern of play since the beginning of Pacific Coast Softball Conference play: Play flat in the first game only to come back and dominate the second. This weekend’s four-game series with Santa Clara which Strahan and players agreed they should have won will go down as a mere split in the record books and has the Hornets sitting at 4-4 in the PCSC in a third place tie with the Broncos.For a team that was picked to finish second in the PCSC preseason coaches poll and league insiders thought could win, the splits have been painful.

“We can’t play .500 ball and expect to win this conference,” Strahan said.

The Hornets have been outscored 14-2 in first games of PCSC doubleheaders and have outscored opponents 24-5 in the nightcaps. The gross disparity has been perplexing for all involved.”We need to figure it out,” Strahan said.

A bright spot in that pattern has been the performance of freshman pitcher Cassie Cervantes. Cervantes (10-4) is undefeated against conference competition at 4-0 and sports a 0.78 ERA as opposing hitters have mustered just a .124 average.

Sac State sits in a third-place tie with Santa Clara behind league-leading Portland State (24-12, 5-0) and San Diego (18-16, 6-2). Defending league-champion Loyola Marymount (22-16, 2-3) ?” which had three games at Portland State rained out over the weekend ?” is directly behind the Hornets in fifth followed by St. Mary’s (4-35, 0-8).

The Hornets next travel to San Diego for what figures to be a pivotal series with the Toreros. Both doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday are scheduled to begin at noon. No Internet simulcast is available for the games but San Diego’s Web site www.usdtoreros.com) offers a Gametracker feed for all home games.”We need to take care of our own business (in San Diego and at St. Mary’s) and take care of Portland State when they’re up here,” Strahan said.

Heavy hitters

In the Hornet’s game two win on Saturday freshman third baseman Rachel Miles became part of a growing club this season clubbing her first career home run. Miles is the fourth Sac State player to hit her first homer in 2006 joining the likes of senior center fielder Lindy Winkler, senior pitcher Nikki Cinque and sophomore shortstop Amy Tompkins.

“It felt good to finally get one,” said Miles, who came into the season with the reputation of a power hitter from her days at Center High where she played under current Sac State coach Lori Meixner. “I had to tell myself to slow down and get into the trot.”Winkler went yard later in that game to give Sac State 22 team home runs for the season ?” already six more than the program record and more than the last four years combined.Continued dominance

Winkler continued her stellar year with an impressive performance against Santa Clara. The senior from San Andreas combined to go 7-for-11 with a home run, three RBIs and five runs scored. “I’m continually impressed by Lindy’s abilities,” Strahan said. “She’s constantly getting hits, running the bases and scoring runs for us.”

Winkler is undoubtedly having the finest season of her career batting .433 (.542 in conference) and with a two-RBI single in the second game on Sunday tied her career high in RBIs with 15. The slender center fielder hadn’t hit a home run coming into 2006 and has clubbed four so far this season.

Missing in action

Sophomore left fielder Hilary Johnson did not play in the Santa Clara series because of a sprained left meniscus she suffered on April 8 at Loyola Marymount.

Johnson said she tweaked the knee running into a base and continued to play on it that weekend but when the team got home it swelled up and kept her out of some practices.

“It always sucks to sit and watch and not be able to do anything on the field,” Johnson said. “I’ve been doing what I can to cheer everyone on and keep them up.”

Johnson is currently third on the team in batting average at .327 and consistently hit in the No. 2 slot behind Winkler before the injury. Johnson and Strahan both said they expect her to return for this weekend’s series at San Diego.

John Parker can be reached at [email protected]