Originally posted on statehornet.com

By Joseph de Ocampo

Sacramento State baseball coaches and players said they believe the addition of lights on the Hornet’s baseball field would remedy the limitations of daylight-only practices, games and low spectator attendance while opening up more opportunities for adapting to playing other fields.

John Smith Field, home of Hornets’ baseball, was built in 1953 and renovated in 2002 with the addition of VIP seating. The field was then renamed in 2010 after former head coach John Smith, who coached for 32 seasons and retired after the 2009-10 season.

The field can seat more than 1,000 spectators, has hosted two NCAA Division II West Regional playoffs but is missing stadium lights, limiting the Hornets to hold home games and practices to daylight hours.

Sacramento State Director of Facilities and Operations Steve Tebbs said the athletic department is considering installing lights on the field, but the cost of the installation and logistics of operating the system makes the goal difficult.

“It’s not only the lighting itself, but it’s all the underground work you have to do to get the electricity out there to run the lights and where you run the electricity from,” Tebbs said, “There is more entailed than putting lights up and flipping the switch.” 

Director of Athletics, Dr. Terry Wanless, said the estimated cost of lights for the field would be between $600,000 and $700,000, and the project would have to be privately funded but would improve the field and the program offered at Sac State. 

“We would like to have lights, we think it would be a great opportunity to enhance our baseball program, so it’s something on our radar,” he said.

Tebbs said lights would help with spectator attendance with the inclusion of Friday and Saturday night games and appeal to student body and other fans unable to watch the afternoon games.

“Usually on Fridays during the day, people have school and work, but at seven or six on Friday night, they could come out and enjoy the game and hang out,” said senior infielder Derrick Chung.

Wanless said lights would give fans a better opportunity to enjoy the sport in a more relaxed setting in the evening, where they could sit back and enjoy the pace of a baseball game. 

 “Night baseball is a part of our American heritage,” he said. “People would be attracted to going to a baseball activity, a positive social event at night.” 

Head coach Reggie Christiansen said the installation of stadium lights would provide a range of benefits for the Hornets. 

Academically, he said the team would have more time in class, enroll in afternoon classes otherwise taken away by game times and it can take advantage of the tutors in the afternoon.

“I think our attendance would triple, it’s difficult for people to come to our afternoon games,” Christiansen said. “I think it would be good for recruiting, from an academic standpoint, keep our guys in class longer.” 

Chung said when he was younger, he had trouble maintaining his classes, sometimes skipping sessions, missing lectures and even midterms to attend afternoon games, affecting his GPA. 

“I wasn’t able to take classes during the day or if there was a GE class I had to take, I would not be able to go to class and had to skip it for baseball,” he said. 

He said the inclusion of lights would give an advantage on away games where the team plays at night, having night practices would give experience to the Hornets and have the knowledge and skill to play at night.

“It’s a much different game playing at night than in the daytime, honestly going into those places like UCLA and University of the Pacific, it’s tough on our guys,” he said.

Christiansen said the team has practiced in the lit Dan McAuliffe Field, located across from Napa Hall, once this season, but the use of the field by other leagues makes regular night practices difficult for the team.

 Wanless said lights would also have an impact on recruiting, where prospective student-athletes would be attracted to come to Sac State.

 “If you could attract high-quality players, then you (the team) are going to get better,” he said. “I think if you could create the right atmosphere, I think you might be able to attract players that could make a difference.”

Chung said the team is at a disadvantage without the practice of playing night games but personally prefers playing in the daytime.  

“I’m used to playing under the sun: in high school and here, I have been playing at this field for five years without lights and gotten used to it,” he said.

Not having the opportunity to practice at night limits the Hornets. Chung said during gaps in its schedules and after home games, the team meets on the field or in the batting cages during daylight hours to improve on ground balls and batting.

“We make the best out of it, most of the time after practice we come here to the cages and try to get extra work done,” Chung said. “We try to be out here in the morning and between classes to do whatever we can do.”

“We would love to have lights on the field,” Chung said. “When you don’t play at night at all, it’s really hard to get used to for the first five, six innings, it would be great to have lights.”

Wanless said the addition of lights would be a positive for all on campus, and increase the interest in the Hornets and the sport itself, adding to a commitment the faculty has to the students.

“One of our responsibilities is to enhance the quality of student life and baseball would be a part of that improvement,” he said.

 Christiansen said lights on the field would attract a larger crowd that loves the game of baseball.

“Baseball at night is an unbelievable atmosphere that you can create,” Christiansen said. “Sacramento is a baseball town, it’s really difficult to get people to come to our games at two o’clock in the afternoon.”

Originally posted on statehornet.com

By Joseph de Ocampo

Sacramento State women’s basketball, seeded at No. 6, fell to No. 1 seed Idaho State 70-57 Friday evening in the Bengals’ Reed Gym in the semifinal round of the Big Sky Conference.

Sac State ended the first half leading Idaho State, 37-36, but faltered in the second with the Bengals taking the offensive and ending the Hornets’ five game winning-streak, scoring an additional 34 points with 48 total rebounds.

The Hornets junior forward Kylie Kuhns scored eight points in the second half, had three rebounds but also had three personal fouls. Following in scoring was freshman guard Fantasia Hilliard, who scored six points from free throws and two steals.

Idaho State was able to come back in the second half with a series of layups and jumpers from junior guard Kaela Oakes and sophomore forward Cydney Horton, who each scored eight points.

The Hornets’ leading scorer was senior forward Emily Christensen with 12 points, followed by sophomore guard Alle Moreno and Kuhns with 10 points each.

The top scorer for the Bengals was sophomore guard Lindsey Reed who scored 17 points from six field goals, two 3-pointers and had 11 rebounds against Sac State.

The first half had Moreno scoring a layup for the Hornets within the first 20 seconds of play and four rebounds. She gave Sac State its first lead at 5:59 with a 3-pointer, putting the Hornets up 25-24. She would later make a 3-pointer in the second half then foul out with 57 seconds left.


Junior forward Natasha Torgerson made two 3-pointers and converted on three-of-six field goals off the bench. She knocked down a 3-pointer with 52 seconds left in the first half which gave Sac State its lead at halftime.

The Hornets’ closed their season with a 13-18 win-loss record, nine more wins overall than last season. Their conference record for the season stands at a 7-9.

Original Link: statehornet.com

By Joseph de Ocampo

The Sacramento State softball team was given a book by its coach containing lessons and pointers from professional athletes to mentally prepare for the upcoming season - something the coach hopes will give them an advantage on the field.

Head coach Kathy Strahan gave the book, "Mind Gym : An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence," to the team before the winter break. The team has been reading the lessons and applying them to its performance on and off the field by using focus exercises and calming techniques to improve its game.

The book, by sports psychology consultant Gary Mack, has 40 short chapters. It contains lessons and anecdotes from sports figures such as the NFL’s Jim Marshall and Major League Baseball’s Ken Griffey Jr.

Strahan first used the book for the team last season, and incorporates teachings by having teammates present chapters to each other once per week.

“It was fun to watch the athletes dive into that realm of the inner game and do little presentations,” Strahan said. “When you have to teach something, I think it helps you learn better than just listening to somebody present.”

Senior infielder Alyssa Nakken has enjoyed the self-analysis that is encouraged with lessons and stories.

“It makes you sit down and think about yourself as an athlete, as a softball player and as a regular person,” Nakken said.

Mack’s book tells of the concept of a mind gym: a personal location someone can retreat to mentally and prepare themselves for the game. The player can create a room that helps review past performances, note improvements and visualize achieving their goals.

Mack wrote in the book, confidence comes from the player’s knowledge of being mentally and physically prepared.

One of the chapters in the book, called “Breathe and Focus,” talks of the consequences of succumbing to the pressure of a situation and ultimately lose the internal struggle athletes undertake mentally.

Mack wrote one way to keep focus during times of stress is to maintain a regular breathing pattern while repeating a single word throughout a game, which helps keep nerves steady.

In the chapter “Mind Games,” Mack wrote a player should concentrate on a neutral or positive thought process during a game. Instead of saying they do not want to happen, such as “Don’t hit it in the water,” a golfer should think, “Hit the ball five yards close to the pin.”

Stroud said she used this technique in her pitching, saying to herself thoughts such as, “This run is not going to score,” as opposed to negatively thinking “I can not let this run score.”

Some of Stroud’s favorite passages from the book are quotes for Yogi Berra, former New York Yankee catcher and manager. He wrote a strong mental game is needed when playing sports.

Strahan also said the quotes from Berra give odd insights into sports and life, and plans to post quotes in the dugout to provoke thought within the players throughout the season.

Berra is quoted in the book as saying “90 percent of the game is half mental,” and after overcoming a 0-for-20 hit drought, he wrote he was not in a slump, just not getting any hits, enforcing the principle of positive thinking.

Nakken said softball is a mental game and the book gives advice on how to overcome bad trials and have good production.

She said to overcome a bad streak such as not being able to hit a pitch from a previous game, she visualizes herself successfully hitting the pitch, and also reviews different situations she would encounter in her next game.

Stroud prepares herself with her team by reviewing reports of hitters they will be facing in the upcoming match and notes the weaknesses to determine which pitches to use.

She said the book is a good read and athletes and non-athletes could apply the principles it teaches in their daily routines.

“(The book) could be applied to daily life, like work, where work ethic is like ethic on the field,” Stroud said.

One chapter in the book, called the “Mirror Test,” informed athletes to reflect on the results of a game, win or lose, and know the best effort was given, based on what Mack calls the “five L’s”: love, labor, learn, laughter and leave or let go. The end result should be the player has satisfaction with their game.

“With the mirror test, you step back and look at how you learned from the book and applied it to the game, to see if you are becoming the elite athlete,” Nakken said.

Outside of the game, the players applied the book to their lives and their daily tasks.

Nakken said she used the teachings of the book off the field with her test taking. When she starts to second-guess and overthink, she applies what she learned to have faith in herself and overcome stress.

“I think some of the best ways to learn is from other peoples’ insights, their experiences, whether they have been successful or unsuccessful,” Strahan said. “Failure is a part of success. It’s a process.”

Joe de Ocampo can be reached at [email protected].

Original Link: statehornet.com

By Joseph de Ocampo

Sacramento State's women's basketball team bounced back and forth with Montana State in the Bobcats' final home game of the season.

Freshman guard Fantasia Hilliard scored two with a layup at the buzzer to win it for the Hornets 77-76.

The game marks the first win against Montana State since the 2005-06 season and ends a four-game losing streak.

Head coach Jamie Craighead said the team was confident and evenly matched coming into the game after its last game, where Montana State won 76-71.

"It was a close game, we feel that we match up well with them," Craighead said.

With five seconds left, Montana State was ahead 76-75. Hilliard took a quick pass and drove the ball down the key for a layup, sinking the ball before the buzzer to end the game.

Craighead said the team has not changed its playing style since the last game against Montana State because of the similarities the teams share.

"I don't think you make too many adjustments. You just have to make plays," Craighead said.

The last five minutes of the game sophomore guard Alle Moreno hit four 3-pointers to finish with a game high 21 points.

Junior forward Kylie Kuhns had her NCAA-best 19th double-double with a total of 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Sac State trailed 36-32 at the end of the first half. Craighead said the first half could have been played better with more offensive plays.

"We had a couple of opportunities to go for a run in the first half and it was pretty much a battle back and forth. Nobody got really more than a 3-point lead," Craighead said.

The Hornets will host Portland State on Saturday and Craighead is looking forward to making more progress in the Big Sky Conference.

Joe de Ocampo can be reached at [email protected].

Original Link: statehornet.com

By Joseph de Ocampo

Sac State Women's Basketball lost to Montana State University in the Nest Thursday night 71-76, after what seemed to be a comeback against the Bobcats in the second half, giving Sac State its fourth straight loss.

The second half featured a focused and more aggressive Hornet team, with guard Fantasia Hilliard and forward Mallorie Franco scoring fast break points during the first two minutes, as well as a series of three-pointers made by forward Emily Christensen.

Hilliard said that a change in defensive strategies helped give Sac State its gained momentum in the second half, leading to a tie against MSU with eight minutes left.

The Bobcats kept striking back to tie the game eight more times before the final three minutes of the match, when Hornet forward Franco scored two to bring the score to 69-67. MSU would then score two more 3-pointers before the last minute of play, when a series of fouls and free throws gave MSU the lead.

Christensen led the Hornets with 19 points, shooting seven out of sixteen and four out of nine 3-pointers. Christensen also became the ninth Hornet to have 1,000 career points in school history, and said that the achievement was bittersweet; was surprised at herself but would have been nice if she had won the game.

Hornets forward Franco, who scored 12 points, said the team's determination was the reason for the turnaround in the second half of the game after the realization of MSU's 16-point lead.

Coach Jamie Craighead said the team was struggling offensively for the last three games, and expected the team to rise from the first half and trust in each other.

"We were able to cut down the 16 [point] lead to five, and we shoot better in the second half: we have been a second half team all season, I'm hoping we can fix that," said Craighead.

She also went on to say that the team is improving themselves by participating in the game and learning from mistakes made both offensively and defensively.

"I think being in games is what will make us better," said Craighead.

When asked about the second game against MSU later this season, Craighead expressed confidence in the Hornets and looks forward to the away game.

"We match up fairly well so we are looking forward to going on the road and hopefully give them a little payback," she said.

The Hornets will take on University of Montana this Saturday in the Nest at 2:05 PM.

Joseph de Ocampo can be reached at [email protected].