Sacramento State women’s softball fell to the Saint Mary’s Gaels in the team’s doubleheader home opener today at Shea Stadium.

The Gaels came back in both games against the Hornets, beating them in the first game 7-6 after going into extra innings, and were able to beat the Hornets again in the second game 4-2.

“I think overall we competed well, well enough to win,” said coach Lori Perez. “The first game we just didn’t take care of the ball.”

Junior first baseman for the Hornets Sasha Margulies had two home runs today, one in each game that helped the Hornets get ahead early. Unfortunately, Margulies performance today was not enough to get the win for them. She finished with two runs, a double, two home runs and five RBIs.

Margulies remained positive though after the games and was pleased with her team’s effort.

“I was happy that I was able to help my team out when we were in a crucial spot,” Margulies said. “It felt awesome to put us back in the game. I think overall we played good today, the cards just didn’t fall our way.”

The Hornets started with a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Margulies singled up the middle to bring home Zamari Hinton and then again when Alexa Johnston singled to left field and Alexis Martinez scored.

They struggled staying ahead of the Gaels in the fifth inning when Kaitlyn Yerby relieved starting pitcher Caitlin Brooks. The team gave up six runs with a score of 6-2 at the top of the fifth.

Sac State managed to stay in the game when right fielder Paige Martin doubled to right field and Hinton scored again. Margulies contributed as well when she doubled to center field, leading Martin to score.

They managed to tie up the game 6-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out when Margulies homered to left field and Martin and Paige Castro scored.

Despite the teams effort they couldn’t seal the win in extra innings when they let one run in at the top of the eighth inning and were unable to execute at bat.

The Hornets fell short again in the second game against St Mary’s losing 4-2.

Freshman pitcher Celina Matthias pitched all seven innings with an ERA of 2.01. Her effectiveness in the circle was not enough to help get the Hornets on base.

Saint Mary’s was able to score first in this game at the top of the second when an error occurred on Sac State’s defense.

Keeping their composure, however, the Hornets were able to get ahead of the Gaels 2-1 in the bottom of the second.

First at bat for the inning was Margulies again when she had her second home run of the day. Catcher Nikki Gialketsis had an RBI for the game when she singled to right field and Johnston scored.

The Hornets were able to keep the lead until the top of the sixth inning when second baseman Hailey Sparacino for the Gaels homered to right field, putting Saint Mary’s up 4-2.

Even with Matthias’ impressive game today she felt she could have prepared better to avoid those two home runs given up.

“I feel like I should have been working more spins out of the dugout instead of sitting there getting cold,” Matthias said. “I wish I could have done that differently.”

Despite the effort on the Hornets defense, they couldn’t quite get their offense going. The women struggled in the box and left runners stranded on base.

Perez said offense is one thing they will continue to work on as the season progresses.

“We need to focus more on taking care of business when we have runners in scoring position and get them in,” Perez said. “We had a lot left on base in both games.”

The Hornets will begin preparing for their third home game on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. against the University of Pacific Tigers.