ARCATA — After taking seven of eight games last week, the Humboldt State softball team (29-22, 18-14 CCAA) have jumped from eighth to a tie for fourth place in the conference with one four-game series remaining in the regular season.

HSU travels to Rohnert Park to take on #21 Somona State on Friday and Saturday.  Friday's doubleheader has a first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. and Saturday is scheduled to get underway at 11 a.m.

The Jacks enter the final week of the season tied with UC San Diego for the fourth and final playoff spot and are one of six teams vying for three postseason bids.

The only team to wrap up an invitation to the conference tournament in Stockton is Sonoma State with a 23-9 CCAA record.   Cal State Monterey Bay (21-11) is in second place.  Cal State Dominguez Hills (19-13) is in third.  UCSD and HSU each have 18-14 records in fourth.  Chico State and Cal State San Bernardino also have 14 losses, but trail the Jacks and Tritons by a game in the win column.  Both are 17-14.

This week Cal State Monterey Bay hosts Cal State East Bay.  San Francisco State travels to Cal State Dominguez Hills.  UC San Diego is at Cal State San Bernardino and Chico State plays Cal State Stanislaus in Chico.

Live Stats and Audio
The Humboldt State v. Sonoma State softball series will be available through the live stats and streaming audio features on the Somona State Athletics web site.  The live stats link is http://sidearmstats.com/sonoma/softball/xlive.htm.  To listen to live streaming audio the link is http://www.ustream.tv/channel/sonoma-state-seawolves.

Lumberjack Links
Following are links to more information on the Lumberjacks softball program:

Roster
Schedule
Statistics

Head-to-Head
The Jacks lead Sonoma State 93-20 in the all-time series. The teams last met in the 2009 NCAA West Region tournament.  The Seawolves defeated the Jacks 3-2.  It was one of four wins they took from HSU last season.  The first meeting was in 1968, the Lumberjacks inaugural season, and HSU got the better of Sonoma State 15-7.  As members of the CCAA the Jacks have taken 8 of the 10 conference match ups and a total of 14 of 18 since the start of the 2007 season. 

Lumberjacks Notes
The Jacks went 7-1 last week, sweeping four games from Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock before taking three of four from San Francisco State .  HSU is tied for fourth place in the CCAA with UCSD. … The Lumberjack offense is led junior Nikki Ketteringham (.406 BA, 67 H, 40 R, 15 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 16 RBI, 4-5 SB) and freshman Chrissy Stalf (.382 BA, 63 H, 26 R, 12 2B, 4 HR, 33 RBI). In the circle, senior Gracie Perez has a 14-8 record and a 2.35 ERA.  She has 137 strikeouts in 143.0.  Freshman Vaneza Hoover has a 2.62 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 149.2 innings.  She has a 12-10 record in 25 starts and 28 total appearances. … As a team, the Jacks are hitting .301 (second in the CCAA), the team ERA is 2.84 (fifth in the CCAA) and the fielding percentage is .962 (fifth in the CCAA).

Sonoma State State Notes
The Seawolves (37-12, 23-9 CCAA) are in first place in the CCAA and have secured a bit the conference tournament next week in Stockton.  They are ranked No. 21 in the latest NFCA coaches poll and No. 3 in the West Region.  Last week they swept four games from SFSU in San Francisco. … The SSU offense is led by Ali Palermo (.404 BA, 38 H, 16 R, 9 HR, 33 RBI), Rochelle Vanyi (.397 BA, 52 H, 7 2B, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 9-13 SB) and Simone Brandalise (.394 BA, 54 H, 11 2B, 34 RBI). … In the circle, Julia Martinez has a 17-6 record with a 1.48 ERA in 160.1 innings and has struck out 83 batters.  Samantha Lipperd is 19-5 with 116 strikeouts in 147.0 innings and sports a 2.05 ERA … The Seawolves are led by Jennifer Bridges who is in her first year at SSU.

Head Coach Frank Cheek's Comments
“We have been playing good ball for the past few weeks and our pitching had been pretty strong.  If we hadn't come back in game two (10-9 on Monday) our season would have been over.  We gave up seven runs in the second inning of that game.  I can't remember anytime we gave up that many runs in an inning.  But we came back and won the game, which really showed me something about this team.” … “We have the talent on this team to be very successful, but we have been hurt throughout the year by injury and illness.  Those things kept key players out of the lineup for stretches.” … “We have a shot (to make the conference tournament).  We are in it to the end and if we get there that would be great for the adversity that this team has faced.”