ARCATA – The Humboldt State softball team takes a break from California Collegiate Athletic Association play as it returns home to host a mid-week doubleheader against Western Oregon, Wednesday at 1 p.m. and a four-game series weekend against Academy of Art, Saturday at noon and Sunday at 11 a.m. Immediately following Sunday's doubleheader, the Jacks head to Chico to make-up competition against Chico State that has been rescheduled twice due to weather conditions. Monday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. and Tuesday's begins at 11 a.m.

Weather Report: For Arcata, Wednesday's weather report is calling for a 60 percent chance of showers. Saturday is calling for a 30 percent chance of few showers, while Sunday is supposed to be 53 degrees and partly cloudy. Chico's weather report for Monday and Tuesday's games calls for temperatures in the low 60's and sunny.

Live Stats: Follow all home games at the HSU Softball Field by accessing the live stats component by going to: http://livestats.internetconsult.com/humboldt/softball/.  Chico State's games will not have live stats available.
 
Lumberjacks Notes: After a frustrating, error-filled doubleheader split against UC San Diego Friday, the Lumberjacks reminded everyone they are defending national champs by sweeping Saturday's doubleheader, 1-0 and 10-1, to improve their overall record to 9-3 and 5-3 in league play. Nichole Parada, who has embraced the No. 2 pitching spot after this weekend, picked up two more wins for a 3-0 record. She leads the team with a 1.25 earned runs average, striking out seven batters, giving up four earned runs in 22 1/3 innings pitched. Gracie Perez went 1-1 this weekend for a 3-2 mark on the season with a 1.70 ERA. Perez leads the pitchers striking out 28 batters in 33 innings, giving up eight earned runs. …This past weekend showed that HSU has some problems to fix with a veteran team making rookie mistakes. “We learned a lot this weekend about ourselves,” Humboldt State head softball coach Frank Cheek said. “I'd like to say no matter if you win or lose you learn, but when you win and make a mistake it doesn't have the same effect as when you lose because of that mistake. We need to stop, regroup and practice.” Despite a faulty defense, the Lumberjacks' hitting is where it should be. As a team, the Jacks are batting .350 with 111 hits, while opponents have only 59 hits for a .211 batting average. Seven of the team's nine starters are hitting over .300, Marissa Slattery topping the group with a .462 BA. Lindsay Warren, who recorded back-to-back home runs in the team's lone loss to the Tritons, follows at .389 and leads the team with 10 runs batted in and three homers. Francesca West is second on the team with nine RBIs while batting .364. “Our hitting is there,” Cheek said. “(Francesca) West is proven to be a clutch hitter for us.”

Opponents' Notes: Western Oregon enters this mid-week competition with a 5-3 overall and Great Northwest Athletic Conference records. The Wolves took two games from Montana State-Billings, while just recently won three out of four games with Northwest Nazarene. WOU has eight players hitting over .300 to contribute to the team's .347 batting average. … Rocky Knuth tops the team with a .476 BA (10-21) and two triples, adding two doubles and four RBIs. Tyler Sutherland (.440) and Amanda Fleer (.385) both top the team with four doubles, while Fleer and Jessica Hallmark lead with three homers each. Hallmark has a team-high of 11 RBIs. Jessica Wood, Stephanie Albrecht and Jessie Lessard make-up the Wolves' pitching staff for a team ERA of 3.81. Wood who is undefeated with a 3-0 mark, post a 2.18 ERA, with 21 strike outs and only eight runs in 25 2/3 innings pitched.  Lessard (5.5 ERA) has a 2-1 record, while Albrecht is 0-2 with a 4.90 ERA. … The Academy of Art Urban Knights softball team has posted a 5-13 overall mark in the program's inaugural season with intercollegiate athletics. The Knights have taken two wins from Bethany University (2-0 and 5-3) and Adams State College (1-0 and 2-0) and one from Colorado School of Mines (7-6). AAU is currently on a six-game losing streak, dropping two-game series to Point Loma Nazarene, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Vanguard University. …Nicole Palmer leads the team with a .400 BA (16-40), with four hits, one homer and five RBIs. Shampayne Clay leads the team with eight RBIs and two homers, adding two doubles and one triple, with a .378 BA (17-45). Alana Aweau who's .289 BA lands her third on the team leads the team with six doubles and contributes six RBIs and one triple. As a team, AAU is batting .227 with 99 hits, while its opponents are hitting .312 with 145 hits. In the circle, the Urban Knights rely on Sierrah Garcia and Ericka Ames. Garcia has a 3-7 record with a 3.48 ERA. She's struck out 48 batters in 68 1/3 innings. Ames, who has a 2-6 mark with a 5.52 ERA has 18 strikeouts under her belt in 45 2/3 innings.

Head-to-Head: HSU leads Western Oregon, 49-3, in the all-time series record. Last season the Jacks took six of the seven match ups against the Wolves. The last two meetings between these two teams were in the final round of the West Region tournament, where the Jacks beat the Wolves in a double-elimination situation to move on to the national tournament. …This will be Humboldt State and Academy of Art's first meeting.

Cheek's Thoughts: “Right now we're not playing well mentally or physically,” Cheek said. “We do great things, but we need to work on situations in practice. We need to run bases and work on communication. We're not playing like a veteran team. Can we iron out these problems? Yes. We have the time to fix them.” … “We're not doing the little things correct,” Cheek said. “We're not sharp. The team is making bush league mistakes and the players know it.”