The Lumberjack

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Torrey Hartman No. 19, Nikki Ketteringham, slides into home during the April 26 home game.

There were chants, screams and rants. But in the end, there were nothing but smiles all along the bench for the Humboldt State softball team.

The Lumberjacks took three out of four in a weekend series with Chico State, wrapping up the regular season and winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title for a second straight year. They will host the conference tournament this weekend, where four teams will meet to decide who will be crowned the CCAA Champion. The winner also gets an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II West Regional playoffs, which will take place the following week.

"We're feeling awesome right now," senior utility player Vanessa Shernock said. "To be playing on our home field is such a huge advantage to have heading into the playoffs. Hopefully when the other teams get here it will throw 'em off a little bit."

Friday's opening game against Chico State featured another dominating performance by senior ace Lizzy Prescott, who pitched a complete game and struck out 13 Wildcats on the way to a 5-1 victory. The All-American earned three wins on the weekend to push her record to 38-8 on the year to go with a 1.19-earned run average.

"This will be our first time hosting [the tournament], so it should be fun," Prescott said after Saturday's games. She seemed confident that the bench would be as loud as ever, with the weekend expected to draw a hefty crowd from both the local community as well as what should be a large out-of-town crowd.

The second game was locked in a tie for the first five innings, until Chico slugger Chelsea Lundberg came up with a home run off Prescott in the sixth to hand Humboldt State a 2-1 defeat. That would be the only bright spot of the weekend for the Wildcats, as they finished the year at the bottom of the CCAA with a 13-19 league mark.

In Saturday's earlier game, the Lumberjacks were firing on all cylinders once again as they amassed 5 runs on 8 hits to cruise to another shutout win. But if that wasn't enough to get the taste of the previous day's loss out of their mouths, the afternoon contest served as sweet redemption. A third-inning explosion was the highlight of the day, as the 'Jacks poured it on with six runs in the inning, punctuated by junior Ashley Oltjenbrun's three-run home run to left field.

Continued...

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