Cal Poly Softball started their conference showdown against second-place Long Beach State with a shutout victory in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader before dropping the next two games from Bob Janssen Field.
It’s the first series loss of the year for the Mustangs (22-14, 12-5 Big West) as they remain in third place in the Big West behind Beach (19-25, 14-4 Big West) and first-place Cal State Fullerton.
They held their own Saturday in a tightly contested doubleheader as they picked up a 2-0 win in game No. 1 behind starting right-hander Sophia Ramuno’s complete game three-hitter.
They came up short in game No. 2 by a score of 3-2, stranding the bases loaded on two separate occasions. The series finale Sunday was not close, as Cal Poly fell 8-1.
Ramuno impresses again, offense comes through in 2-0 win
With two outs and the bases loaded at the top of the seventh, Beach’s top hitter Makayla Medellin – whose batting average was .348 – stepped up to the plate to face Ramuno.
Down by two runs, a single would likely tie the game.
With a 2-2 count, the Mustang ace fired a fastball down the middle leaving Medellin staring at strike three to secure her ninth complete game of the season.
The closing strikeout was her seventh of the game, improving her total on the season to 125. Heading into this game, Ramuno was leading the Big West in strikeouts.
After Sunday’s series finale, she now sits at 126, just behind Fullerton’s star pitcher Hailey Rainey who leads with 129.
Heading into the fourth inning, Beach’s starter Sophia Fernandez had downed all nine Mustang hitters and had a perfect game.
Junior centerfielder Jessica Clements halted that bid, crushing the first pitch of the inning deep to center field for a lead-off triple, which barely missed going over the fence.
Clements remains Cal Poly’s top hitter, leading the Big West with a .472 average.
Two batters later, sophomore left fielder Kiara Blanchard poked a line drive over the shortstop to bring in Clements for the first run of the series by either team. Blanchard’s RBI improved her team-leading count to 24 this season.
In the next inning, junior catcher Julia Barnett smacked an RBI double to make it a 2-0 game.
With a narrow lead in the late innings, Ramuno stranded five total baserunners over the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Beach put runners on first and second with one out, and she worked out of it.
Ramuno now holds a 9-7 record after the first game, complemented by the third-lowest earned run average (ERA) in the Big West at 2.42.
The Mustangs have been challenged in tight matchups by Big West opponents all season long, but they continue to prevail. In conference games decided by one or two runs, they now have nine wins to only two losses.
Mustangs strand nine runners, fall 3-2
The Mustangs played from behind the entire game and couldn’t find the timely hitting as they left nine runners on base in game two of the doubleheader.
In two different innings, the second and the sixth, they loaded the bases with two outs but couldn’t bring a run across.
Junior righthander Kate Judy got the start in the circle but started off a bit shaky, allowing a one-out double to Medellin. Judy’s been a big part of the Mustang pitching staff, and she found her rhythm in the second inning, retiring the side in order.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the second, Clements came through once again for the Mustangs as she smacked an RBI single up the middle to cut the lead in half.
In the sixth, Beach scratched across a run, but the Mustangs would equalize with a run of their own, bringing the score to 3-2.
The contest was held close by stellar defense from the left side of the infield in the Mustang’s senior shortstop, Xiara Diaz, and sophomore third baseman, Mylina Garza.
Diaz made an incredible diving catch in the fourth inning as she fully laid out on a pop-up just behind third base.
Diaz has been rock solid this year at shortstop – along with being a force in the box to deal with. She’s hitting .361 this year, the fourth-best average in the conference.
The Mustangs were one clutch hit from taking the second game and securing a series win, which would have put them in a tie for No. 2 in the Big West.
Mustangs drop game three and first Big West series of the season
Cal Poly Softball couldn’t get their bats going in the series finale against Long Beach State, plating just one run while coming off of a split in the doubleheader the previous day.
The Mustangs failed to capitalize on the high-stakes series against the Beach, losing the final game of the series by a score of 8-1.
The Beach got to Mustangs ace Sophia Ramuno early, scoring three runs and setting the tone in the first inning. This was the first time Ramuno had given up four or more in a game since March 1, before the team began conference play.
The Mustangs’ lone run came in the first inning when sophomore outfielder Kiara Blanchard hit an RBI double to center field.
Blanchard has had a strong season at the heart of the Mustangs’ batting order and currently holds a .322 batting average.
They weren’t without hits, collecting seven across the game, but stalled after the first inning.
The Mustangs’ pitching staff had been strong in their April 20 doubleheader, allowing just three runs over both games, but The Beach capitalized on timely, extra-base hits to seal the series with the blowout.
The Mustangs remain near the top of the charts in the Big West in both hitting and pitching statistics.
They have the second-highest team batting average in the conference at .295, led by junior outfielder Jessica Clements, who currently sits second in batting average in all of Division 1.
In the circle, key players Ramuno, junior Kate Judy and junior Paige Maier have led the squad to a 3.03 ERA, third in the Big West.
With this series out of the way, they will now turn their attention to their most difficult matchup of the season, a three-game set against first-place Cal State Fullerton.
Fullerton, the preseason favorite for the Big West championship, has dominated on both sides of the ball and looks to be a challenge for the Mustangs who are vying for a top seed as the regular season comes to a close.
The Mustangs sit two wins behind the Beach and three behind Fullerton after the loss and are closely followed by the University of Hawai’i with just nine Big West games remaining.
The first game of the away series against Cal State Fullerton will be on April 27 at 1 p.m.