Led by first baseman Sasha Margulies and junior pitcher Caitlin Brooks, Sacramento State softball will make its second consecutive Big Sky Conference Tournament starting Thursday.

Margulies has played 42 games and is hitting .359, with nine doubles, one triple, one home run and she ranks second on the team with 22 RBIs.

Sac State comes into the tournament with the third best batting average in conference .289, behind Southern Utah University and Idaho State University. .

“We are ready to go,” Margulies said. “This bye weekend is good for practice and everything, but we want to keep the momentum going.”

After finishing a dominant sophomore year, Brooks has continued that dominance with a 9-5 record and 1.44 ERA. Her earned run average ranks first in conference and is 27th in the nation.

Since Mar. 28, Brooks is 5-1 in conference play, has a 1.62 ERA, 45 strikeouts and opponents are batting just .204 against the right-hander.

“We are going to go in there and set the tone in the games and try to pull out a few wins to win the tournament” Brooks said.

She has helped the Hornets to the top mark in the Big Sky with a team ERA 2.22 for the second straight year heading into Thursday.

The No. 2 seed Hornets will face No. 3 seed Southern Utah in the first game of the Big Sky Tournament followed by tournament host and No. 1 seed Idaho State taking on the University of Northern Colorado.

With the bye week, Sac State’s head coach Lori Perez said practice focused on staying sharp for the conference tournament.

“We are trying to keep the edge we have had all conference season long,” Perez said.

Sac State finished the season a week before the other three tournament teams ended conference, but while it is an unusual way to finish the softball season, Perez has had experience as an assistant coach in 2007 and 2008 in which she saw both sides of the playoff scenario situation.

“As a coach I have been in this position but not to host a conference tournament,” Perez said. “In 2007, we had to have Portland State lose three games to Loyola Marymount to win the PCSC. In 2008 we had to win out and Portland State had to lose once.”

Sac State finished the season with a 24-19 and 12-4 conference record. While Southern Utah who finished up their regular season this past weekend against University of Northern Colorado 20-28 and 12-6 in Big Sky play.

On Mar. 28 the Thunderbirds and the Hornets played two games and Southern Utah won the first game 6-4, while Sac State took the second game 6-3.

In the two games, Margulies combined a 2-for-7 two RBIs and one run scored. Senior pitcher Taylor Stroud, sophomores Kaitlyn Yerby and Jennifer Hartman combined to 10 hits and five earned runs, while they struck out six batters.

The Bengals and the Bears will play in the second game on Thursday, during the season Idaho State swept Northern Colorado in the three-game series.

While Sac State’s offense has improved immensely in conference play, if it advances it will face teams like the Northern Colorado and Idaho State that can put up runs in bunches. Both teams rank second and first respectively in total runs scored this season.

“I love how the other teams are playing right now because there is no clear favorite this weekend,” Margulies said.

First pitch for Sac State against Southern Utah in Pocatello, Idaho is at 3 p.m.