ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Cal State East Bay softball will face its third straight nationally ranked opponent in No. 24 Sonoma State starting Friday, March 13, in Rohnert Park. The Seawolves are currently tops in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and are led by the back-to-back CCAA Pitcher of the Week in Amanda Llerena.

Cal State East Bay (14-10, 7-9 CCAA) faced then No. 19 Humboldt State (Feb. 27-28), No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay (March 6-7) and will go on the road to face the No. 24 Seawolves over three consecutive weekends. The Pioneers split the four-game series with the Jacks and went 1-3 against the Otters less than a week ago.

Jaynie MacDonald belted her league leading eighth homer of the season in the team's 5-3 win over Cal State Monterey Bay this past Friday. She saw her 12-game hit streak snapped in the finale but raised her batting average nearly 90 points during that time and is currently hitting .328 for the season.

Ali Cerminara is second on the squad with four homers and 18 runs batted in this season. The team's primary catcher has thrown out 40 percent of would-be base stealers gunning down 10 thus far near the midway point of the year.

Pioneer batters are hitting at a .276 clip entering this series but are reaching base at a .383 clip. Cal State East Bay has drawn 93 walks and been hit by pitches 17 times this season. Leadoff batter Lauren Vestal ranks second among league players having drawn 18 free passes in 24 games in 2015.

Pitcher Sierra Clark has thrown eight complete games in 11 starts and posts a 7-3 record with 3.26 earned run average this season. She has struck out 38 batters in 73 innings. She will likely duel against the Seawolf ace in both of her anticipated starts.

Llerena has thrown complete games in each of her 12 starts and boasts a 10-3 record with 1.88 ERA. She has struck out 83 batters in 85.2 innings and is holding opposing batters to a .199 average. In her last five outings against CCAA foes she is 4-1 with a 0.47 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 29.2 innings.

The SSU offense is batting .334 as a club with Ancia Purdy's .506 average leading the way. She paces the club in hits (39), triples (6), stolen bases (17), runs scored (21) and on base percentage (.519).

Teammates Amanda Rossetta and Keeley Ray are each hitting over .400 and have combined to drive in 21 runs this season. They are part of the league's second most potent offense averaging just shy of six runs per game.

In more than 650 plate appearances the Seawolf batters have been set down on strikes only 44 times. No SSU hitter has struck out more than seven times through 21 games this season.

These two squads have split the past two league series' in 2013 and 2014. Prior to that the Seawolves dominated 14 straight dating back to the 2009 campaign.