ARCATA – Games may be running out for Humboldt State as the season is winding down, but the Jacks aren't ready to throw in the towel yet. Humboldt State hosts Cal State East Bay in a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association series on Friday and Saturday, hoping the rain holds off for the five seniors to be able to play on the field they've called home.
Humboldt State currently stands at 14-31 overall and 6-22 in the CCAA, while Cal State East Bay boasts a 26-19 record on the season, 13-15 in conference action.
Head-to-Head
The Jacks hold the upper hand in the overall series with the Pioneers with a 71-28 record, but CSUEB grabbed three of the four games last year, beating HSU 4-1, 11-3 and 10-7 before Humboldt State prevented the sweep with a 7-1 victory.
Forecast
While Saturday has been predicted to be sunny and in the mid-50s, Friday and the week leading up to the weekend has rain threatening the condition of Humboldt State's field. The rain could push the games to McKinleyville High School like this previous weekend, but head coach Frank Cheek and assistant coach Shelli Maher-Sarchett don't want their seniors to play on someone else's field for senior day if at all possible.
Live Stats
Lumberjack Notes
Humboldt State comes off a split against San Francisco State, a team Cheek believes the Jacks could have swept. After grabbing the first two wins in the series, HSU looked like it had the third game in the bag with a five-run lead over SFSU and two outs.
"There's no reason if you win two games the first day, you can't win two the next," said Cheek. "I think we would've won the fourth game if we had gotten the third. The momentum would have carried us through. I know our players didn't give up, though."
The Jacks fought until the very last out—an intensity Maher-Sarchett was impressed to see throughout the whole weekend—knowing a big lead no longer guarantees a victory for Humboldt State. Most teams play for one run in the short game strategy, but as Cheek says, "that doesn't seem to work in our case.
"At any moment, we're capable of giving up a big inning, even though our pitchers are throwing the best they can," said Cheek. "
Jennifer Sizemore and
Alyssa Castillo don't quit despite the circumstances. When they throw their best pitches and the other team hits them, can't complain with that. We threw the same pitches we won with the day before, but they made adjustments."
Humboldt State has had to rely on its hitting to rack up runs just to keep in the game and has knocked 57 home runs over the fence this season. The Jacks need seven more homers to break the single-season team home run record set in 2009 with 63. With ten games left, the feat is very feasible.
Alicia Reid leads the Jacks with 12 long balls, putting her tied for second in the CCAA.
Dani Randall and CCAA Player of the Week
Kirsten Nouzovsky are tied for seventh in the conference with nine homers a piece. Randall also ranks fourth in the conference with 43 RBIs, while Nouzovsky sits in the No. 2 spot for runs scored with 39, just one under the leader, Nina Villanueva from Cal State Monterey Bay.
Chrissy Stalf bats just under .400 at .397, the fourth highest in the conference. Stalf also ranks fourth in on base percentage with .484 (Nouzovsky is seventh with .466) and is tied for fifth with 54 hits on the season. Courntey Hiatt, Reid and Stalf round out the eight, nine, 10 spots of the conference's slugging percentage leaders with .653, .641 and .640, respectively.
Pioneer Notes
The four games could prove to be a battle of the long ball as Taylor Neumann hit her 16th home run, one of Cal State East Bay's six home runs against Cal State San Bernardino, to lift the Pioneers 7-1 and 9-5 over the Coyotes last Saturday. Neumann needs just two more homers to break the record Stalf set last year with 18 home runs, and she has 10 more games to accomplish it. ... Jamie Yaller leads the Pioneers with a .385 average, but seven other CSUEB players bat above .300 to help the team's collective average be just on the cusp of .300 at .299. ... Talia Ferrari boasts a 2.74 ERA from the circle, striking out 55 batters in 117.1 innings pitched.
Cheek's Chatter
"We can't seem to put anyone away this year. We don't have a closer. All great teams have closers, but we don't. ... I was pleased with our hitting, how could you not be? And at times, our defense looked outstanding. We had four double plays the first day and Sizemore was a factor in three of them. Nouzovsky does a good job of getting rid of the ball quickly. I thought Stalf had a great day defensively. They had a lot of lefties who were pulling their hits and pounding Stalf. She still made plays where I don't think she even saw the ball. ... I thought
Serena Aragones came in and did well in the outfield. No one works harder than her at practice, it's a pleasure to coach her. ... I was proud of
Tonya Walker. I moved her up in the lineup because I felt she would hit the ball and then she hit the grand slam. ... I thought the officiating all-in-all was good. Wish I could blame the losses on them, but I gotta blame myself. ... CSUEB is definitely having a better year than us, no doubt about it. We have to out-hit them. Not out-play them, out-hit them. ... This is a new experience for me. Having a losing year is very difficult for me to accept and I can imagine what the players are feeling. I bet it hurts more for the players because they feel it more. ... We have 10 games left, and they're all games we can win."
