STOCKTON, Calif. -- The Sonoma State softball team chopped down mighty Humboldt State earlier in the afternoon, effectively eliminating the top-seeded Lumberjacks with a 4-2 victory, but the Seawolves couldn't rally from another early deficit against Chico State a couple hours later on Saturday in a 6-4 loss that eliminated Sonoma from the CCAA Softball Championships in Stockton.

The Seawolves (33-22-1) will now await word on their postseason fate; the NCAA Division II Softball Championships Selection Show is set to air live on NCAA.com Monday at 7:00 am.  SSU, which was ranked at No. 8 in the official West Region rankings entering the conference tournament this week, is looking to qualify for its eighth straight NCAA tournament.  The top eight teams from the region (three automatic qualifiers and five at-large bids) will compete for the West Region crown and, ultimately, the National Championship.

Sonoma State 4, #3 Humboldt State 2

The Seawolves struck first and took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Alee Balanon reached on a one-out single and came home on a triple to right field off the bat of Jordann White.
 
Despite a lead off base runner in each of the first three innings, HSU was unable to connect with SSU starter Amanda Llerena and match Sonoma on the scoreboard. The Seawolves ace limited the Green and Gold to one hit through four frames.
 
Sonoma added a run in the fourth as Balanon grounded a ball under the glove of HSU starter Madison Williams and into centerfield to score Lindsey Calcany-Blair who had singled earlier in the inning.
 
Hanna Holland trimmed the Sonoma lead to one in the fifth. With the bases loaded and one out, Holland tapped a ball to second base to bring home Illa Haley. Sydney Roberts and Haley powered the Jacks' run-scoring effort with base hits in the inning.
 
It took just one swing of the bat for HSU to even the score in the sixth. Tiffany Hollingsworth swatted her team-leading 12th home run to left field to even the score. The long ball came off a belt high pitch from reliever Mayleen Mazon.
 
The Seawolves retook the lead with two runs in the top of the seventh. Strycula swung at a third strike, but reached first on a wild pitch. She moved to second on a single and came home after a failed pickoff attempt resulted in a missed tag at second, allowing Strycula to score and Balanon to reach second. Sarah Langley fired a double to right centerfield for the game's final run. 

Llerena came back into to pitch the seven and shut down the Lumberjacks to record her first save of the season.  Mazon got the victory.

It was just the fifth loss by Humboldt State (45-5-1) this season, but the 'Jacks are expected to be the No. 1 seed in the West Region and host one of two West Sub-Regional tournaments next weekend.

#14 Chico State 6, Sonoma State 4

In the night cap, the Wildcats put five runs on the board almost immediately for a 5-0 lead that would later prove to be too much for the Seawolves to overcome despite several chances in the fifth inning.

Langley went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI in the loss.  Llerena fell to 20-10 this season after giving up the five runs in the first before being replaced by Brielle Vidmar the rest of the way.