The Sacramento State softball team split their doubleheader against UC Santa Barbara, ending the team’s nine-game winning streak with the first game ending at a loss, 0-4 and the second game with a Hornet win, 2-1. The loss is Sac State’s first since the beginning of March.

The Hornets took on the Gauchos Monday afternoon in Shea Stadium, splitting the two games and ending the Hornets’ win streak at nine games.

The win streak is the second-longest since the team was given Division I status, tied with streaks from the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

In the second game, Hornet freshman pitcher Caitlin Brooks allowed five hits and one run for the Gauchos in her first complete game. She also struck out two batters on 118 pitches, dropping her ERA to 3.95 on the year.

The Hornets notched one in the second inning when sophomore outfielder Shannon Kaufman scored on a grounder to third by sophomore infielder Yesenia Alcala. Senior Jessica Abelia scored another in the third.

The Gauchos were able to score only once, in the third inning on a single to right field by sophomore Kathryn Pilpil.  

The first game of the double header had the Hornets trailing from the first inning, when Santa Barbara opened the game with a three spot.

Hornets pitcher Taylor Stroud allowed 12 hits and four runs on 117 pitches in the first game, raising her to 2.33.

Head coach Kathy Strahan said the first game was poor for the team in all aspects, and the Gauchos took advantage early.

“I feel we lost the first game in the first inning,” Strahan said. “It was sloppy offensively, defensively and in the pitching department. We hadn’t caught an edge, but Santa Barbara had.”

Gauchos freshman pitcher Shelby Wisdom managed 10 strikeouts and walked one in seven innings.

Despite the loss of the first game, Strahan said the team was unfazed and stayed focused on the task at hand and not on the winning streak it had lost.

“(The streak was) nice from a media standpoint, but we are just trying to win ball games,” she said.

Joe de Ocampo can be reached at [email protected].