The Sacramento State softball team pitched a shutout in its doubleheader against Nevada for two wins Wednesday afternoon at Shea Stadium.
The Hornets put together a total of three home runs, 14 hits, eights runs and 14 innings of scoreless pitching against the Wolf Pack over both games.
“Things are starting to finally coming together for us,” Sac State coach Lori Perez said. “We want to continue with this forward momentum and continue to get one percent better every day.”
In the first game, junior pitcher Celina Matthias (3-3) pitched her first complete game shutout of the season, striking out nine Wolf Pack hitters and only allowing three hits.
The Hornets’ offense took advantage of two fielding errors by Nevada and scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning to jump ahead 2-0. Senior first baseman Jessica Ravetti then added some extra run support for Matthias with a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“We came out on fire this game as opposed to yesterday where we were pretty dull,” Matthias said. “I knew the team had my back and that allowed me to not overthink things.”
Game two of the doubleheader started with Sac State sophomore shortstop Sydney Rasmussen hitting a leadoff home run, her fourth of the season.
“Honestly, it felt great,” Rasmussen said after missing Tuesday’s game against Seton Hall with a foot injury. “Being out on the field again felt awesome and coming back to hit that home run — nothing could feel any better.”
After three straight singles in the third inning, sophomore third baseman Mo Spieth drove in two runs to extend the Hornets’ lead to 3-0. The following inning, freshman left fielder Suzy Brookshire hit a home run to left field with a runner on first that made it a 5-0 ball game.
Senior pitcher Taylor Tessier (1-3) started game two for Sac State and went four innings, allowing three hits and striking out one batter on her way to her first victory of the season.
Freshman pitcher Danielle Sperry entered the game in the top of the fifth inning to record the final nine outs of the game.
“Sweeping this doubleheader was great for us, especially heading into Fresno this weekend,” Rasmussen said.
Sac State advances to 6-7-1 on the season and have back-to-back weekends on the road at the Fresno State Tournament (March 10-12) and the Loyola Marymount Tournament (March 17-19).