With a week that included losing six of eight games, the Sac State softball team is standing firm on a will to keep fighting.
In the Big West Conference opener against Cal State Fullerton (ranked number eight in the country), the Hornets 9-17 overall and 0-3 in Big West Conference play, fell victim to Titan pitcher Jodie Cox in a 9-2 decision.
"We had some opportunities all weekend to make things happen and we could not capitalize," head coach Kathy Strahan admitted. "We got some people in to scoring position a lot and we just couldn?t get any runs."
The Hornets scattered nine hits compared to 12 for the Titans. Freshman Nicole Deatherage pitched all seven innings for the Hornets and gave up eight earned runs. The Titans' struck early plating five runs in the first, capitalizing on walks and one Hornet error which loaded the bases. RBI singles by Monica Lucaterro and Amanda Hockett paced the Titans in the inning. The Hornets battled back with two runs in the bottom part of the inning, thanks to a Cathy Coupar single to left center. The Hornets were unable to produce anymore runs the rest of the game.
In game two, Hornet sophomore Jillian Bivert squared off with Titans' hurler Christy Robitaille. With the score tied at two in the top of the seventh inning, center fielder Julie Watson hit a three-run triple for the Titans with one out. With the score 5-2 in the bottom of the inning the Hornets managed to load the bases with only one out but could not take advantage of the opportunity. Bivert gave up six hits but walked none in seven innings of work in the loss.
In the third game of the series Strahan called upon sophomore pitcher Gina Steenburgen who has been struggling with a wrist injury. Although Steenburgen showed no signs of fatigue in a strong outing giving up only one run on six hits and striking out six, the Hornets were unable to supply any run support and fell behind 1-0. In the bottom of the sixth inning, shortstop Andrea Becker singled to right field and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Meghan Cunningham. Becker then advanced to third after Amber Dragomir beat a throw to first for an infield single. But, the Hornets were unable to score on the Titans Gina Oaks, who scattered five hits and stuck out 11 Hornet batters.
"It is so frustrating right now because I feel like we had so many chances to win," Becker said. "We played hard and we never gave up, there is a lot of the season left and we are far from quitting. We still have work to do but I am confident that we will start getting some wins really soon."
The Hornets took the field today against Oregon State at 1:00 p.m. at Shea Stadium, and they will host Portland State on Thursday, also at 1 p.m., in a doubleheader. They will also travel down to Santa Barbara this weekend for a three game series.
"This next week will be a big test for us to see if we have improved," Strahan said. "We just need to get all of the facets of the game working at the same time."
