ARCATA – With a hot streak on its side and a rank by its name, the Humboldt State softball team will head to Turlock this weekend for the Tournament of Champions to play in its last regular season games away from home.
 
“All the good teams in the west will be there,” said HSU head coach Frank Cheek. “I think a lot of teams are scared of us, but we certainly can't take any team lightly. Anybody can beat you.”
 
The Lumberjacks are on a 17-game win streak, and made their debut on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Div. II poll last week at 14th in the country. After a clean sweep over Cal State Dominguez Hills last weekend, the Jacks are now 28-9 overall and 20-4 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action.
 
Humboldt State will begin the tournament taking on the Azusa Pacific Cougars (17-13 overall) at 9 a.m. Friday. The Lumberjacks will then face the Saint Martin's Saints (20-10 overall) at 11:15 a.m., followed by their final game of the day against the Central Washington Wildcats (12-11 overall) scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The Jacks will be on the Pedretti Sports Complex Fields for their first three games.
 
“Some coaches want to beat you, and some coaches just want a good pool showing,” Cheek said. “If we come out of this pool and we're 4-1, that's fine. We just have to play like we've been playing.”
 
Last Week – Humboldt State
 The Lumberjacks swept the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros (6-3, 2-1, 5-3, 3-1). The Jacks continued their pattern of breaking records, hitting eight home runs on the pair of doubleheaders to bring to the team total to 68. This number is not only a CCAA single season record, but also the most team home runs of any Div. II program in the country this season. Tonya Walker hit one home run, Dani Randall and Courtney Hiatt each hit two, and Chrissy Stalf knocked three over in the series. In game one on Friday, the Lumberjacks were down two runs heading into the bottom of the eighth, but two long balls – a solo shot by Stalf followed by another Randall home run with two on – gave the Jacks a 5-3 victory. Lizzie Perez and Katie Obbema each picked up two wins for the Jacks.
 
Last Week – Azusa Pacific
The Cougars (17-13) traveled to Honolulu, facing Hawai'i Pacific in a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Cougars split the doubleheader (1-3, 9-6) after rallying in the seventh of game two to score four runs and avoid being swept. After a day's rest, Azusa Pacific turned around to battle it out with BYU Hawaii, winning both games of the doubleheader (2-0, 10-2). Senior pitcher Taryn Devich struck out 11 batters in a three-hit complete-game shutout in the opener.
 
Last Week – Saint Martin's
The Saints played doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday winning three of the four matchups. Saint Martin's recorded two wins on Friday against the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) 24th ranked Concordia University Cavaliers (6-4, 5-4) at home. On Saturday the Saints played split a doubleheader against the Corban University Warriors (5-2, 1-11).
 
Last Week – Central Washington
The Wildcats had a busy week as they played in doubleheaders at home on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Central Washington took two from Northwest Nazarene on Monday (8-0, 3-2), won both Thursday against Western Washington (10-2, 6-4), and ended the week with a split when they faced Simon Fraser on Saturday (2-0, 0-6).
 
Head-to-Head
 The Lumberjacks have a small history with the Cougars of Azusa Pacific, having met just three times. Humboldt State leads the all-time series 2-1.
 
The Jacks lead the all-time series against Saint Martin's, 40-5, but lost both contests in last year's doubleheader (1-11, 7-10).
 
Humboldt State saw Central Washington last year in the Tournament of Champions, falling to the Wildcats (3-1). The Lumberjacks lead the all-time series 50-5.
 
Live Media
Live stat links can be found at:
Vs. Azusa Pacific:
http://www.sidearmstats.com/sfsu/softball/xlive.htm
Vs. Saint Martin's:
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/smusaints.portal#
 
Azusa Pacific Notes
The Cougars are currently 9-9 in PacWest action, putting them at sixth place in their conference. ... Senior pitcher Rita Kim has a record of 5-4, 70 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.31 in 64 innings pitched. ... Four players for Azusa Pacific have recorded home runs on the season, totaling seven team home runs. ... Rachel Miller, Katrina Oviedo and Angie Sprague lead the Cougars with 29 hits each.
 
Saint Martin's Notes
As a team, the Saints have 56 doubles, which is more than three times their opponents. ... Saint Martins' two main pitchers, Sam Munger (10-5) and Taylor Bakos (9-5) have ERAs of 2.01 and 2.63 respectively, and combine for 90 strikeouts. ... Munger also leads the team in hitting (.388). ... Joslyn Eugenio leads the team in RBI (22) and is tied with Lacey McGladrey for hits (39). ...The team earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Team of the Week honors after sweeping first-place Simon Fraser.
 
Central Washington Notes
The Wildcats sit at fourth place in the GNAC with a league record of 10-6. ...Junior second baseman Jill McDaniels leads Central Washington with 31 RBI, nine home runs and a slugging percentage of .841. ...Junior pitcher Maria Gau (6-6) has an ERA of 2.26 to go with her 67 strikeouts in 71.1 innings pitched.
 
Humboldt State Notes
The Lumberjacks set a CCAA single-season record this past weekend with 68 home runs. The 14th ranked Jacks also lead the nation with this number. ... Stalf has 16 homers and is five shy of the HSU all-time career home run record set by Taiisha Pleasant (50). Stalf also adds a .442 average, .920 slugging percentage, and 50 hits. ...Hiatt leads Humboldt in doubles with 11, and has 11 home runs, two of which were grand slams. ...Eleven Jacks have hit home runs. ...Perez and Obbema combine for 25 wins and 116 strikeouts.
 
To see the complete schedule for the Tournament of Champions go to:
http://www.warriorathletics.com/documents/2013/1/8/2013_TOC_Schedule.pdf?id=276