It was a long weekend for the Hornet softball team as it lost all four games it played in the Stanford Softball Classic. Before last weekend, the Hornets were 4-9 but there was no sense of panic on the team.

“We started 4-9 last year too”, sophomore pitcher Cassie Cervantes said.

Last year, the Hornets were 4-9 before they finished with a 31-11 record.

If the Hornets hope to run the table, it didn’t start this weekend as they fell to 4-13. On Friday, the Hornets played the 12th-ranked Stanford Cardinal and Loyola of Chicago.

The Hornets were shut out by the Cardinal 8-0. In the night game, Loyola won 5-2 over the Hornets. Bad pitching was a big factor in the losses, as the team allowed 16 hits and 13 runs in just 11 innings.

On Saturday, the Hornets played UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State. Santa Barbara won 3-2 over the Hornets, led by Santa Barbara hitter Tiffany Wright, who went 4-4. Hornet pitcher Kayla Meeks allowed just two earned runs and 10 hits. Later on that day, the Hornets fell to San Diego 8-5. The Hornets have now lost six in a row, and their 4-13 start is their worst start since becoming a Division I-A team in 1990.

The Hornets have had some injury and pitching difficulties this year. The biggest injury has been star pitcher Cervantes, who has been plagued by groin and leg pains.

Last year, she had a record of 14-4 with a 1.82 ERA. So far this year she is 1-3 with a 3.92 ERA. The pitching has usually been the strength of the Hornets, but it has not been up to par this year.

Pitchers Cervantes, Meeks, Michele Bochenski and Brittani Clifford have all combined for just four wins and 13 losses and have a combined 5.54 ERA.

One of the bright spots on the Hornets has been catcher Jaime Schloredt.

Schloredt is batting .511 with 47 AB and has three home runs with 12 RBIs. The Hornets were picked before the season to win the Pacific Coast Conference, but have definitely struggled out of the gate.

The next game for the Hornets is today against Iowa State. The game will be at Shea Stadium on campus and will be the first home game for the Hornets this season. After that game, the Hornets will play in the Capital Classic in Sacramento, Friday thru Sunday. Lamont Weaver can be reached at [email protected]