ARCATA, Calif. — The Humboldt State softball team returns to the beautiful North Coast this weekend as it hosts Cal State Dominguez Hills for a four-game series with the first pitch of Friday's series opener scheduled for noon at the McKinleyville High School Softball Field.

Last week, the Jacks went 1-2 but showed they can compete with any team in the California Collegiate Athletic Association after grabbing a 6-5 victory over the conference's top-ranked squad, UC San Diego. HSU owns a 4-9 overall record with a 2-8 mark in CCAA play.

"We can compete with the top teams in the nation," said HSU Head Coach Shelli Sarchett. "We beat UC San Diego in game one, and we had them in game two, but we let it slip out of our hands. If our girls play the way they played in the first half of the day, then we'll be just fine for the rest of the season."

Second baseman Danica Grier leads the Green and Gold with a .372 batting average with 16 hits while first baseman Mariah Tovar is hitting .371 with 13 hits and has a team-best 10 RBI. Hanna Holland becomes the CCAA's all-time stolen base record holder last week after swiping three bases in the series versus San Diego. Holland's 143 career stolen bases lift her past the previous record of 142 held by Cal State Dominguez Hills' Cindy Perry–Brown. She is two stolen bases shy of matching the program record of 145. Pitcher Lexee Sheiring continues to battle in the circle and leads the squad with 32.1 innings pitched and 21 strikeouts.

"Our pitching is the name of the game. It has to step up and start doing its job," said Sarchett. "Our offense can only put so many runs on the board. If our pitchers can keep us competitive in the ball game we are going to start winning more games. They know they have work to do. We know we can't rely on one pitcher the entire game. All I ask is they keep us in the ball game and our offense will help them out."

Dominguez Hills split a pair of games with Sonoma State last week and enters this series with a 10-7 overall record while they sit at 8-6 in conference. Outfielder Amanda Canizales is batting a team-high .415 and leads the CCAA with 10 doubles. Ashley Wies leads the Toros bullpen with 60.2 innings pitched and has recorded four wins, three saves, and 38 strikeouts.