Sonoma State softball coach Jaime Wallin says every team has a personality. Her team’s default personality? Goofy.

With that in mind, Wallin knew something was wrong when she heard silence from SSU’s dugout during the early innings of its first-round CCAA Tournament game Thursday against Humboldt State in Stockton.

No jokes. No laughs. And no success ” the fourth-seeded Seawolves trailed 2-0 after two innings against No. 1 Humboldt, the defending Division II national champions.

“We kept staying on them, telling them ‘Be you. Show your personality,'” Wallin said. “We play well when we have fun.”

Sure enough. The Seawolves loosened up. And their offense woke up with six runs in the final three innings for a 6-2 upset win.

Upset? SSU split a four-game series in February against the Lumberjacks. But entering this season it had lost 27 straight to Humboldt by a combined score of 158-35.