It has been a long season for the women’s softball team. After last season, the team went 35-20 and narrowly missed the playoffs and the division title. It was expected this season that the Hornets would be the front-runners to win the division and get into the playoffs.

“We have lost some players, but we have enough returning players to make up,” coach Kathy Strahan said.

With returning players like star freshmen Cassie Cervantes and talented catcher Jamie Schloredt, it seemed that the Hornets would blow through the season and get the playoff spot that has eluded them for the past 10 seasons.

The season started promisingly for the Hornets as they beat Santa Clara twice to start with a 2-0 record.

But that was on Feb 9. Since then, the team has gone 8-26. The team’s overall record of 10-26 is a far cry from last season’s record. The Hornets are down but not out.

The Hornets still have a chance to make the playoffs if they can win the Pacific Coast Conference title by having the best in-conference record.

It’s a tall order for the team, especially with all the problems it has had this season.

It started before the season as players like Lindy Winkler, who was 2006 Pacific Coast player of the year, graduated and the team was missing an on-field leader.

The schedule this year was more difficult than in years past, especially the first two weeks of the season, as the Hornets faced four top-20 nationally ranked teams, including No. 1 ranked Tennessee.

“If people were only on the road with us,” junior pitcher Kayla Meeks said, noting the competition has been tough.

Injuries have plagued this team all year, especially pitcher Cervantes, who is done for the year .

“There have been bumps in the road, but we do still have a chance,” Meeks said.

It’s real game time now as the Hornets started their conference play last week at Portland State. In the past three conference games, the Hornets won once, a 5-3 squeaker, but lost twice, 0-3 and 1-3. The Hornets also played UC Davis twice, with both teams taking one victory each and Sac Stat has kept tight with UC Davis in the battle for the Causeway Cup, the annual all-sports competition between the schools. This last weekend featured the Hornets versus Loyola Marymount. The games planned for Saturday were postponed until Sunday, when the teams played three straight games. The Hornets went 1-3 in the series.

The Hornets have to step their game up if they want to have any chance of still winning the division. After last weekend, the Hornets division record is 2-4, last in the rankings.

The next game for the Hornets is today versus UC Berkeley at Shea Stadium. It’s not a division game, but the Hornets need every win they can get.

The next conference game for the Hornets is on Friday, when they take on Santa Clara. The Hornets are 2-0 this season against them.

Lamont Weaver can be reached at [email protected]