The Cal Poly softball team came into this weekend tied for first in the Big West. Three games, 27 runs and 28 hits later, the Mustangs are now last.
UC Santa Barbara stopped any momentum Cal Poly had from their series win against UC Riverside. The Gauchos swept the Mustangs in their second three-game Big West series of the season, outscoring a team trying to rid the stigma of a 4-22 nonconference record, 27-6.
It drops the Mustangs’ record to 6-26 (2-4 Big West), a far cry from their 15-17 (4-2) record at this point last season. But if there is a silver lining in this box score, it’s that the Mustangs have 15 conference games left, and if they can put this offensive output behind them, they can still make a run get to the top of the Big West.
But it might be difficult.
Cal Poly put up two runs against UC Santa Barbara in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Pitcher Anna Cahn scored on an illegal pitch in the sixth, and Stephanie Correia hit an RBI single through the middle in the seventh.
However, at that point, it was too late.
UC Santa Barbara scored five runs (three earned) against pitcher Rebecca Patton. She went three innings, allowing two runs in the first inning, and three in the second. Through three innings, the Mustangs trailed 5-0.
The Gauchos poured on one more run in the fifth and four more in the seventh en route to the 10-2 victory.
The Mustang suffered the same fate in the second game of the doubleheader.
Pitcher Trista Thomas threw 118 pitches through 3 1/3 innings, giving up 12 runs (six earned). Through three innings, the Mustangs trailed 5-0, but the Gauchos broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning.
First baseman Mariah Cochiolo gave the Mustangs hope in the bottom of the fourth. She knocked a two RBI single through the left side.
It wouldn’t matter, as the game was called through five innings, giving the Gauchos a 12-2 win.
Sunday, the Gauchos got off to another hot start as they scored two runs in the first inning against Patton. UC Santa Barbara’s Keilani Jennings hit a two RBI double to right center to give the Gauchos a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, UC Santa Barbara’s Lauren Boser doubled down the right field line to bring home a run and then later scored on an error.
Trailing 4-0, the Mustangs fought back. Cochiolo belted a home run to left field, to cut the deficit to three. But again, the Gauchos silenced the Mustangs with their bats. Jennings hit a home run to right field to give the Gauchos a 5-1 advantage.
Cal Poly, however, finished just a few feet shy from tying the game. After junior center fielder Nora Sobczak trimmed Cal Poly’s deficit to 5-2 by singling home Cochiolo, left fielder Jillian Andersen hit an infield single that placed two Mustangs on base.
But right fielder Nicole Lund flew out to the left field warning track to end the game.
It’s the third home sweep by a Big West opponent in seven seasons for Cal Poly. The Mustangs will return to action next weekend at Cal State Fullerton for a three-game series.