Even a L4 Sorcerer has only four spells known, one at L2. She's going to want at least one (Colour Spray, in this case) to attack with. Spending another on prebuffing is quite expensive and it's probably only going to be a L1 buff like Mage Armour. So she now has a flat-footed AC of 14, which means her chances of being one-shotted by a Fighter-type or Rogue are now only high-ish, rather than very high (assuming +1 BAB, +3 Str, +2 Charge, say). She could use some items, admittedly (Mage Armour from a scroll, say, then cast Shield or PfG or whatever) which would up her odds quite a bit.
She could take Charm Person, yes, but does every Sorcerer need to have that, then? Plus, who's to say those gnolls weren't already her Charmed buddies? Giving her some help in this fight is pretty much the same regardless of whether it's via Charm or just having an ally (which means this is no longer a spellcaster-vs-party fight but a spellcaster-plus-ally-vs-party-fight). I think the real point to take from this is that 6-on-1 makes for poor balance.
Delicious cake? She's a Cha-based caster, probably wants a little Int as well as a healthy Con and Dex, so her Wis is likely to be her second dump stat. That's going to give her very poor Profession (Baking) even if she does find enough skill points (she gets 2+Int, remember, and will want Concentration, Spellcraft, and probably some Knowledges) to spend on it.