Sacramento State had a huge home matchup this weekend for Big Sky tournament seeding against the team right on their tail, Weber State.

It was a battle for second place in the conference on the line and a potential bye in the tournament.

The Hornets left some runners on base and got going too late in games, resulting in a 1-2 series loss.

Friday: Weber State 4, Sac State 3

The Hornets started on a high note with the second pitch of the team’s first at-bat. Junior outfielder Lafulafu Malipeai homered to left field to get the first points on the board.

“So my mentality going in was to just punch first and keep swinging,” Malipeai said. “I knew it was senior weekend and my younger brothers and sisters were watching. I wanted to inspire them to play softball or any sport at the next level.”

In the third, the Wildcats pitcher hit three straight Hornets to load the bases. With a runner already on first, this eventually led to the second run of the game.

The Wildcats responded with an RBI single, and an additional run was scored thanks to a Hornet error, tying the game up at two apiece.

The Wildcats pulled away in the fifth with a double down the left field line paired up with another error that brought home two runners to double up the score late, 4-2.

Sac State tried to crawl back late in the seventh inning with an RBI single by junior catcher Katie Marsh that brought in a run, but a pop fly ended the game 4-3.

The Hornets let this game slip away behind the few errors they committed.

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Friday: Weber State 1, Sac State 4

In the second of a double header, the Hornets’ defense locked in, only giving up one run.

The Wildcats got on the board first with a run off a groundout to begin the game, but that was the only run they scored in this game.

Sac State answered with an unearned run by Malepeai, thanks to a reach on a fielder’s choice to tie the game at one apiece.

The pitchers dueled it out across the next four innings, making groundouts inevitable. Hornets’ junior pitcher Kennedie Magorian went to work in this game, adding eight strikeouts.

Her fastball was on point throughout the game, and she threw straight heat in the circle.

In the fifth, freshman utility player Madison Evers-Lyles blasted a home run to right field that woke up the crowd and the team, making the score 2-1.

“Honestly, I just love this game,” Evers-Lyles said. “Whether it’s getting extra reps at third or any other position or working on my swing, I know that stuff starts to add up, especially at the Division I level.”

Another homer was sent over the wall in the sixth inning, this time by freshman catcher Alexa Carino to left field to add another run that put the team up 3-1.

The last bit of scoring came off a sprint to home plate, thanks to a sacrifice fly in by junior outfielder Gwen Ludwig to put a bow on this game.

The Hornets won 4-1 to tie this series at 1-1. They hit the ball well, adding seven hits and no errors to secure the victory.

The game was also a milestone for Sac State head coach Lori Perez. This was her 300th win as head coach, the third most in school history. The crowd, team and coaches were overjoyed, as confetti and a Gatorade bath soon followed to celebrate Perez.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to coach this team and hitting the 300 mark is a nod to the success of the program, to the players that have competed and the coaches who have worked hard every day,” Perez said.

CONGRATULATIONS COACH PEREZ!! #StingersUp pic.twitter.com/RgCqWDfUzh

— Sacramento State Softball (@SacStSoftball) April 19, 2025

Saturday: Weber State 6, Sac State 4

A Senior Day game meant to be special tuned sour, as the Hornets lost 2-1. The Hornets gave up runs early, and fielding errors at the wrong time buried them.

Sac State got in an early hole with Weber State getting two runs off two singles in the second.

The Hornets fell apart in the third inning, giving up four runs that included a double RBI and a 3-run homer to put them in a deep 6-0 hole.

The following inning the Hornets got on the board with a run. A throwing error led to Marsh getting the Hornets’ first run of the game from third base.

Sac State’s comeback aspirations were sparked by a blasted solo home run to left center by Evers-Lyles, making the score 6-2 in the fifth.

In the same inning the Hornets added two more runs from junior outfielder Faith Epperson, who added a 2-run single to make the game closer at 6-4.

The Hornets had a chance to win in the seventh after sophomore pitcher Alexa Ortiz struck out the Wildcats in order to have a chance at a comeback to win this game, but couldn’t get any runs to complete the comeback.

Sac State didn’t turn it on early, when they needed to, and lost 6-4.

“Our team has been resilient all year. Going into this week, we know what is ahead of us,” Perez said. “We will go up to Montana and put up a good fight to hopefully put us into the two seed at the conference tournament.”

Tuesday: Stanford 14, Sac State 4

Sac State played a non-conference game versus No. 15 Stanford. The game saw most of the Hornets’ starters resting, resulting in a beatdown.

A struggling pitching effort caused the game to get out of hand quickly. The Hornets played four pitchers, only producing one total strikeout in the third by junior pitcher Danyelle Leone.

On the fielding side of things, the Hornets had some miscues in the game, specifically fielding errors when a few dropped catches would have led to some outs but instead led to Cardinal runs.

On the offensive side, the Hornets struggled to make contact which also contributed to the lopsided loss.

The Hornets only had four hits in the 14-4 loss across five innings in a game that wasn’t even close, with the Cardinal scoring 10 runs in the first two innings.

The Cardinal lived up to their ranking in this game, adding 14 runs off 15 hits in a game that was gut-wrenching to read on the stat sheet.

The non-conference defeat in the middle of a push for the Big Sky tournament seedings is a small bump in the road for Sac State.

The Hornets are now 22-21 on the year and will face off on the road versus Montana on Friday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.