Lauren RabainoAfter an impressive performance in a 3-1 win over Cal on Friday, when she hurled a complete-game three-hitter, Cal Poly freshman lefthander Anna Cahn was named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
Cahn also gave the Mustangs a two-run double in the win, in which the lone run allowed was unearned.
“She has a great work ethic, makes the corrections asked of her and is focused on pitching,” said Cal Poly head coach Jenny Condon.
Cahn, a Los Alamitos native, held Cal, which the Mustangs hadn’t beaten since March 25, 1998, to a .120 batting average.
“I’m really excited,” Cahn said. “We worked hard the whole time. I feel like the whole team deserved it.”
She faced only five more hitters than the minimum, but didn’t stop there.
By bringing home junior shortstop Melissa Pura and freshman catcher Stephanie Correia, Cahn earned her first collegiate extra-base hit during the bottom half of the first inning.
She retired the final 11 batters she faced and finished with two hits.
A similar outing was had Sunday by Cal Poly sophomore southpaw Helen Peña in the Mustangs’ 5-2 win over Alabama-Birmingham, in which she pitched a complete-game five-hitter and struck out a career-high 11 batters of her own.
“It’s really exciting for us,” Pura said of the Mustangs’ young staff. “Seeing them come out is a really big confidence builder.”
Cahn said all the Mustangs pitchers have been working this week on mechanics and getting back to basics to be even more sound.
The distinction Cahn received is Cal Poly’s first since graduated senior Emily Hively was honored April 9, 2007.
When the Mustangs (5-8) host North Dakota in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Monday, Cahn will enter Bob Janssen Field boasting team highs in strikeouts (32), opposing batting average (.246) and innings pitched (32.1).
“She will go far,” Condon said. “She’s just figuring out who she is and getting started.”