After winning six straight games to battle back and claim the West Region championship over the weekend, the Lady Jacks will carry plenty of momentum into today’s game with Lock Haven.

More importantly, they have a red-hot Lizzy Prescott.

Prescott has been absolutely stunning during Humboldt State’s playoff run, and over the past weekend, she turned in one of the most memorable performances in Lumberjacks sports history (if not the most memorable ever).

Her six wins in the pitcher’s circle is a single-season West Region postseason record, and the stamina she displayed in pitching 46 innings in just five days speaks volumes of how important she is to this team.

“She was awesome,” junior first baseman Natalie Galletly said if Prescott. “To see her pitch her heart out like that.”

Prescott, a senior, has been performing at an All-American level for the Jacks for at least three years and in her four years in Arcata she has left an indelible mark on the school record books, most notably in career strikeouts (1,155).

But never has her presence been felt more than last weekend, when she lifted the level of her game just when her team needed it the most, carrying the Jacks back from the brink of disaster and ending a seven-year West Region drought for the perennial contending program.

In four of her past six games, Prescott has held opponents without an earned run, while posting back-to-back shutouts against the hottest team in the region (Western Oregon) in her past two starts.

“All weekend, she did great,” said junior Chrissy Motzny, who hit a home run in Sunday’s region championship game. “She just pitched her heart out.”

Prescott also pitched a school-record 369 innings this season, carrying the bulk of the work load for an otherwise relatively inexperienced staff, and head coach Frank Cheek came under criticism because of it.

For Prescott, however, that workload merely served as preparation for the postseason, when her teammates needed her more than ever, and she showed no ill-effects from a long season and no signs of fatigue during the region playoffs, if anything actually getting stronger the more she was used.

Without that heavy workload during the regular season, Prescott would not have been so effective in the playoffs.

And after last weekend, one game a day at the national tournament will seem like a cakewalk, providing, of course, the Jacks can keep winning and make sure they play only one game a day.

On the downside for the HSU women, Prescott’s opponent today appears just as well equipped to challenge even a red-hot lineup like the Jacks’.

Junior pitcher Kristin Erb is expected to start for the 47-6 Eagles and has season statistics to rival those of Prescott.

Erb has an ERA of just 0.24, while striking out 386 batters in 315 innings and will surely get as much All-American attention as Prescott.

On the other hand, it’s unlikely the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is as strong as HSU’s California Collegiate Athletic Association, a league that dominated the West Region playoff field and one that has featured four teams in and around the top 25 in the nation all season.

Either way, it should be a tremendous battle when the two standout pitchers go head-to-head this afternoon in Houston.

For Prescott, a trip to the national tournament is a nice way to end a stellar career at HSU, while a national championship itself would be a fitting way to finish up.

HSU softball has featured numerous All-Americans over the years, but only two truly legendary pitchers – Prescott and Jessame Kendall.

Kendall won a national championship in 1999 and shares just about every major school pitching record with Prescott.

The one thing the latter is missing from her resume is a national title.

Her presence this week gives the Jacks a shot at fixing that.

(Opinions expressed in columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Eureka Reporter.)