Box Score ARCATA – Courtney Hiatt brought her Sunday best to the HSU Softball Field, and for the second Sunday in a row, it was more that enough to lead the Jacks to victory, this time a 5-3 win over Saint Martin's in the NCAA West Region tournament.
 
Hiatt, who was named the CCAA tournament MVP last weekend after a stellar performance in the Sunday championship game, went 3-for-4 against the Saints. In the first inning she hit a two-run double down the leftfield line and then scored on a single by Hannah Williams to stake the Jacks to an early 3-0 lead.
 
“The pitcher (Sam Munger) was behind in the count,” Hiatt said of her double. “And we noticed on Saturday that when she gets behind in the count, she goes in with a screwball. My count was 3-1, and she came in with that and it was a perfect pitch to drive. The inside pitch is my favorite. All I had to do was stay in on it and not pull out.”
 
 Humboldt improves to 50-12 on the season while Saint Martin's ends its season with a 41-16 record.
 
The Jacks advance to the NCAA West Super Regional, a best two-out-of-three series against CSU Dominguez Hills, the winner of the other West Region tournament. The NCAA Selection Committee will have to sort things out since neither the Jacks or the Toros put in a bid to host the Super Regional. A recently reopened hotel in Arcata has the necessary room availability for HSU to be considered despite it being graduation weekend.
 
“We can't go into next weekend overconfident,” Hiatt said. “We have to keep doing what we've been doing, playing our game. We won another game without any home runs, so we can do both. We can hit home runs, and we can win a game without home runs. People delivered when we needed them to deliver. This weekend has been a total team effort. Everybody on our team contributed in one way or another.”
 
In what has become a familiar story, Lizzie Perez pitched in relief after starter Katie Obbema got into a little trouble. Perez finished the game for the victory, allowing just one hit in 3.2 innings. Perez (20-5) won all three games this weekend after not pitching for almost two weeks.
 
“A few weeks ago she took a 17-3 beating and hung in there,” said HSU head coach Frank Cheek. “This was a little easier on her. You get thrown off the horse, you get back on it again. She stuck it out, worked on her pitches and got healthy. And now she has had three good performances.”
 
That 17-3 loss to Sonoma State on April 13 is also the last loss suffered by Humboldt. The Jacks have since won 14 in a row.
 
“I knew that once I went in I had to do what I do best,” Perez said. “I know that I have an awesome defense and a lot of run support from my teammates. It made my job a lot easier. It feels good that we accomplished this and that the seniors are going to go out with a bang their last season.”
 
Hiatt said the key to the weekend's success can be traced back to Friday's game against UC San Diego when Perez entered the game in the third with two on and no out. A bunt and two easy ground outs got her out of trouble in that inning.
 
“When she got through that first inning on Friday that gave her all the confidence,” Hiatt said. “She has the most confidence she's ever had since I've seen her. I'm so proud of her. She pitched very well. For two freshmen to get our team this far, that's amazing. Lizzie hadn't pitched in a while and she came and delivered for us. I'm so proud of her. I'm proud of Katie. They both contributed. They both killed it.”