Saturday, April 13
vs. Humboldt State (14-31, 6-22 CCAA)
McKinleyville HS | McKinleyville
12 p.m. | 2 p.m.
Live stats

Sunday, April 14
vs. Humboldt State
McKinleyville HS | McKinleyville
11 a.m. | 1 p.m.
Live stats

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HAYWARD, Calif. – Fresh off news that it is ranked in the top 10 in the West Region, the Cal State East Bay softball team will head out for its final road trip of the regular season, traveling north to take on Humboldt State for four games this weekend. The Pioneers (27-20, 13-15 CCAA) will meet the Jacks for the first of two doubleheaders on Saturday at 12 p.m. before closing out the series on Sunday at 11 a.m., with all four games set to be played at McKinleyville High School just north of Arcata.

East Bay is coming off a doubleheader split with Notre Dame de Namur that saw Devon Mercurio provide some extra-inning heroics with an eighth-inning grand slam – her first homer of the year – to help give CSUEB the win. The Pioneers are also just a week removed from their third CCAA series win of the season, taking three out of four from Cal State San Bernardino at Pioneer Field. During the series, senior Talia Ferrari hit .583, drove in four runs and scored four and hit two homeruns, all while capturing two wins in the circle and tossing a pair of complete games.

As a team, the Pioneers have turned things on of late, going 10-5 in their last 15 games, including a 7-3 mark in the last 10. During the last 10 games, East Bay has hit .304 as a team, notching 13 homeruns and nearly doubling their opponents' run total. Overall, the Pioneers are fourth in the CCAA in batting average and scoring and are averaging 1.22 homers per contest to rank second in the conference and sixth in all of Division II. East Bay has already shattered the program season record for homeruns and, with 56 so far, are on pace to double the previous record of 31, set last year. If the Pioneers continue their current pace, they could also break the CCAA record of 64, currently held by the 2008 Cal State San Bernardino squad.

Ferrari has also proven herself of late, going 4-1 in the circle over last 10 games while tossing more than half of the Pioneers' 70 innings and also contributing at the plate with a .321 average, seven runs, seven RBI and three homers during that span. In addition to Ferrari, nearly all of the East Bay starters have upped their offensive production over the last month, with Jamie Yaller leading the team with a .387 average and 38 runs scored and Taylor Neumann driving in a team-leading 41 runs and ranking fourth in all of Division II with 16 homeruns. Eight of the Pioneers' regular starters have double-digit RBI, while both Devin Salmones and Sara Holdridge are just behind Neumann with 11 homers apiece to tie for fourth in the CCAA.

The Pioneers enter the weekend locked in a tie with Sonoma State for fifth in the CCAA with just eight games remaining on the regular season schedule. The Seawolves are currently ranked two spots above East Bay in the West Region rankings, which are used to help determine which teams will earn bids to the NCAA Division II Softball Championships. Meanwhile, the top four teams in the conference will earn trips to the 2012 CCAA Championships, set for April 27-29 in Stockton. With both No. 10 Cal State Dominguez Hills and No. 23 UC San Diego having already clinched berths in the conference tournament, just two spots remain with eighth-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay and No. 19 Chico State holding second and fourth place, respectively, in the current standings. This weekend the Otters will meet San Francisco State, the Wildcats will take on Cal State San Bernardino and the Seawolves are set to host Cal State Stanislaus.

Judging the Jacks
Humboldt State enters the weekend with a 14-31 overall record and a 6-22 mark in CCAA play. The Jacks are sitting in the last spot in the CCAA standings, but boast the reigning Player of the Week in Kirsten Nouzovsky, who helped HSU split with San Francisco State last weekend, hitting .818 with eight runs and nine RBI, while slugging at a 1.818 clip. The Jacks lead the CCAA in homeruns per game, ranking fifth in Division II with 57 homers in 45 games so far. HSU is also leading the conference in doubles and slugging percentage. The potent offense is led by Chrissy Stalf, who is batting .397 with 35 RBI and 27 runs, Nouzovsky, who hits .371 with 39 runs scored, and Dani Randall, who has driven in 43 runs and is hitting .341. The Jacks have eight players with double-digit RBI and 11 players with 10 or more runs scored. Last season, the Pioneers took three out of four from Humboldt State in Hayward.

Looking Ahead
Cal State East Bay is set to close out the regular season campaign at home next weekend, when it plays host to Chico State. The Pioneers will play four games with the Wildcats and will honor seven seniors in Mishka Hamor, Talia Ferrari, Jamie Yaller, Breezy Johnson, Devin Salmones, Taylor Neumann and Heidi McAllister prior to Saturday's Senior Day doubleheader.