Cal Poly battled through a tedious 11-inning outing against conference rival UC Santa Barbara, escaping with a win and a series sweep for the weekend.
The Mustangs (25-9, 4-2 Big West Conference) edged out the Gauchos 6-5 in a three and a half hour nail-biter. After easily defeating the Gauchos 12-5 and then 6-0 during a doubleheader on Saturday, the Mustangs needed to work a lot harder to earn their sweeping Sunday victory. Considering the Gauchos swept Cal Poly last season, this series also serves as revenge.
“We always have battles with Santa Barbara,” said Mustangs head coach Jenny Condon. “They’re a big rival school so it always feels nice to beat them. They swept us last year so it’s nice to turn that back around and pay them back. They’re a good ball club and they came to play and their pitcher did a nice job today.”
Taking the mound for the Mustangs was sophomore Anna Cahn, who is having a remarkable season. She came into Sunday’s game with a record of 15-5 and an ERA of 1.72. She had also been swinging the bat well with a .323 batting average.
Despite the Mustangs’ victory, it was a long day for Cahn. She pitched all 11 innings and threw a career high 178 pitches. Coming into Sunday’s game, Cahn was ranked second in the Big West conference in strikeouts, yet she did not throw one until the eighth inning. She was nonetheless pitching efficiently late in the game, ending with two strikeouts. No Gauchos scored after the fifth inning.
“My arm’s a little tired,” Cahn said. “I pitched seven innings yesterday and then 11 today. Any win is good. We lost a series last weekend so to come back like this is great for us. We’re looking pretty strong. We’re just going to need to keep up our intensity and focus.”
The Gauchos (18-16, 2-4) drew first blood in Sunday’s game. Freshman catcher Lainey DePompa got a base hit in the second inning, sending freshman third-baseman Amanda Ziegler home. The Mustangs were quick to strike back.
In the bottom of the second inning, senior leftfielder Jenna Maiden and senior shortstop Melissa Pura both got two out hits to keep the inning alive. Senior centerfielder Jessica Rogers then hit a line drive up the center of the infield, snagging Gauchos pitcher MeLinda Matsumoto in the arm and driving Maiden home. Freshman right fielder Nora Sobczak proceeded to drive in another run with a deep base hit into center field.
Cal Poly added to their two-run lead in the bottom of the third inning. Cahn drove in two runners with a deep double to left-center field. After the third inning, the Mustangs lead 4-2.
The Gauchos came back in the fifth inning, scoring three runs to gain the lead. The Mustangs did not catch up until the bottom of the sixth inning. Pura hit clutch lead-off double to deep left-center. It was her seventh double of the season. Pura scored after Ziegler committed an error for the Gauchos by bobbling a grounder hit down the third base line by Sobczak.
From there it was all defense and pitching for four straight innings. Matsumoto had a long day on the mound as well, throwing 167 pitches with just one strikeout. Cahn saved the day in the bottom of the eleventh with a game-winning single to center field, driving in junior first-baseman Krysten Cary. Cahn had three RBI’s on the day.
“It was a good test for us mentally, to play eleven innings and never give up and to keep fighting,” Condon said. “It was a good win for us, and it was nice just to get back on a winning path. We struggled a little bit last weekend with Fullerton, so it was nice to be home.
The Mustangs have won 15 straight home games; a streak that started last season. Next weekend Cal Poly plays an important home conference series against Long Beach State. Condon is confident in the Mustangs’ ability to take care of business.
“Championship teams are made out of pitching, defense and timely hitting and I think that we’ve done that,” she said. “I think that we’ve really focused on the things that we can control and we have not been worrying about opponents. As long as we take care of the things that we need to do then I think that we’re going to have a lot of success throughout the season.”