A season that started with high hopes for the Cal Poly softball team ended in frustration as the Mustangs finished with a record of 11-36 overall and 7-14 in conference.
If the final game of the season is any indication of the direction of the program in coming years, fans might see a gritty team that does not give up in 2012. On senior day, with the team saying goodbye to four-year starters Anna Cahn and Stephanie Correia, the team took conference champion Pacific to extra innings for the third time in two days.
After giving up the tying run in the seventh, the Mustangs retook the field and freshman Ashley Romano immediately responded with a triple to back up two home runs that day. Correia took the plate with one-out in a tie game and placed a base hit over the third baseman to hand the team a victory.
It was head coach Jenny Condon’s 200th win of her seven-year career at Cal Poly, and the 99th in the careers of the lefty pitcher Cahn and her battery-mate Correia.
The season started off on a rough note as the Mustangs faced some of the best competition in the nation including Oklahoma State, Arizona and Tennessee. Over the team’s first 22 games, 12 of their opponents were ranked in the top 25 nationally, and the team emerged battered. The Mustangs were 0-12 in those match ups.
The Mustangs were able to win seven games in conference, but an eight-game losing streak lasting nearly two weeks undid their hopes for a return to the postseason.
The team struggled mostly due to a lack of firepower at the plate. The Mustangs’ pitching staff combined for a 4.59 ERA, allowing 207 earned runs, and the offensive posted 138.
Cahn, a power threat, was the top run scorer with 21 but other players pushed her across the plate only seven times. Fourteen of her scores came from her home runs.
Correia also provided a spark, batting one spot behind Cahn. She completed her senior season with 24 RBIs, second on the team and a .982 fielding percentage in 45 starts at the catcher’s position.
Next season the Mustangs will have to find run production to be competitive. That might come in the form of outfielder Nora Sobczak, who was second only to Cahn in batting average in 2011.