ARCATA - Following a tough Monday afternoon, No. 6-ranked Humboldt State aims to get back on track and repeat its last time playing at the Toro Diamond this weekend. 

     The Lumberjacks come off a disappointing split of six games over last weekend and St. Patrick's Day. HSU captured the first three contests against Cal State East Bay, before letting the series finale get away from it. The Jacks lost both ends of a Monday twinbill to No. 3-rated California Baptist in the top of the seventh inning of each game.

HSU will open its weekend series at CSU Dominguez Hills on Friday starting at 1 p.m., before wrapping it up on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Follow the Action:

Live Audio (Saturday only): www.gotoros.com/sports/2008/7/23/TorosLive.aspx?tab=torosportsnetwork2

Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/dominguez/softball/     

HSU maintains ranking in Top 25

     After its 3-3 week, HSU maintained its No. 6 ranking in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association top 25 poll.

     The Jacks' rose to sixth from seventh last week. HSU lost only three points this week with 310 from what it received a week ago.

     For the fourth week in a row, West Texas A&M (24-3) gained 11 of the 16 first place votes to remain at No. 1.  Alabama-Huntsville (19-4) held steady at No. 2 with one first place vote and 377 points. Cal Baptist (24-7) earned two top votes to stay in the third spot.

     Armstrong Atlantic (21-5) won all six of its contests last week and gained the final two first place votes only to hold at No. 4 with a 355-point total. As was the case with the top four teams, Augustana (SD) at 13-2 will enter a second week at No. 5.

     After No. 6 HSU, the No. 7 through No. 10 teams were also unchanged – No. 7 St. Mary's (TX) 31-4, No. 8 Wayne State (MI) with a 20-4 mark, No. 9 North Georgia (22-6) and No. 10 Tampa (17-4).

     The CCAA has two other ranked teams – Cal State Monterey Bay (20-5) jumped to No. 14 from 16 and UC San Diego (18-4) moved up one spot to No. 19.

Hollingsworth putting run together

     In her first season, Tiffany Hollingsworth is putting together a veteran-type campaign. The freshman second baseman couldn't have started stronger and earned CCAA Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks. She tailed off a bit the following two weeks, before now putting together another run.

     The first-year Jack takes a nine-game hit streak into this weekend. In the streak, Tiffany is hitting .517 (15 of 29) over that period to increase her average 47 points to .384 (43 of 112 in 33 games). 

     Covering the last four games, Hollingsworth is 8-for-13 with three multi-hit games. She has a team-best 13 multi-hit and five multi-RBI games.

Harris growing behind the plate and in the batter's box

     Sophomore Darian Harris is showing great growth both behind the plate and in the batter's box this season.  

     On defense, Harris has yet to make an error in 128 opportunities in 30 games. The sophomore gunned down four Cal State East Bay runners last Saturday. Darian has thrown out five of 19 base stealers at a 26-percent clip.

     At the plate, the left-handed hitter holds the second-best team average of .389 (37 of 95). She saw her six-game hit streak come to an end in the opening game against Cal Baptist on Monday, but has hit safely in nine of the last 11 contests. Her nine doubles rates behind on Hollingsworth's 11.

Jacks series vs. Toros

     HSU holds a 31-21 overall series advantage against this week's CCAA opponent, Cal State Dominguez Hills.

     Last season, the two teams met more than any other league opponents with HSU taking seven of eight contests.  In the final two meetings in the 2013 NCAA DII West Super Regional, HSU swept past CSU Dominguez Hills to the Toro Diamond to earn the National Championship berth.

     2013 Meetings:

Mar. 28 in Arcata - Gm. 1: HSU 6-3 / Gm. 2: HSU 2-1

Mar. 29 in Arcata - Gm. 1: HSU 5-3 / Gm. 2: HSU 3-1

Apr. 7 in Tourn. of Champions (Turlock) - CSUDH 2-1

May 3 in CCAA Tournament (Stockton) - HSU 4-1

May 17 in DII Super Region (Carson) - HSU 8-5

May 18 in DII Super Region (Carson) - HSU 6-2

     Last regular season meetings in Carson:

CSU Dominguez Hills swept HSU in the four-game set.

Feb. 11, 2012 - Gm. 1: CSUDH 11-0 / Gm. 2: CSUDH 8-0

Feb. 12, 2012 - Gm. 1: CSUDH 11-4 / Gm. 2: CSUDH 7-5

Scouting Cal State Dominguez Hills (14-16/8-12 CCAA):

     The Toros have dropped their last nine contests and 10 of the last 11 including fiver of those games by more than two runs.

     • Swept in Carson by Sonoma State last weekend (3/14: 2-1 and 13-6; 3/15: 1-0 and 11-6)

     • Recorded a 37-24 record in 2013 and 21-15 CCAA record, 4th place in regular season ... won the West Region by taking two of three contests from host Dixie State.

     • Solid hitting team with a .312 average

     • Leads CCAA with 60 doubles and 3rd in home runs (22)

     • All-American Adriana Sanchez leads team with a .418 average and most doubles in CCAA (14). She also has seven homers and 28 RBIs.

     • P Jamie Duran paces the pitching with a 9-9 record, 3.47 ERA and 39 strikeouts. She has 15 complete games and three shutouts.

-GoJacks-