Heading into Saturday’s game against Long Beach State, Cal Poly was looking for a break. The Mustangs had been swept two weekends in a row, and after dropping two games to the 49ers Friday, it looked as if they were headed for a third.
But with the help of a big home run by a sophomore pitcher, and a couple of errors, the Mustangs found the luck they needed.
For the first time in almost a month, the Mustangs walked away as victors — beating Long Beach State 5-4 Sunday in the finale of their three-game conference series.
It came in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Nicole Lund crossed the plate after Liz Javier threw wide of first base, giving the Mustangs their first win since April 3, when they defeated UC Riverside 5-4.
Pitcher Rebecca Patton played a key part in fueling it. She started the game and went all eight innings in the circle. She gave up four earned runs, walked two and struck out one.
At the plate, she had a bigger impact. With the Mustangs trailing 4-2 in the sixth inning, Patton belted her first home run of the season to left field, tying the game at 4-4.
That set up the Mustangs’ rally in extras, where two errors and a walk gave the Mustangs their only win of the weekend.
In Friday’s double header, the Mustangs didn’t fare well.
A bases-loaded walk from shortstop Kim Westlund gave Cal Poly its first run of the night, and tied the game at 1-1.
In the fourth, outfielder Nora Sobczak nailed a 1-0 pitch to center, bringing in Patton to give Cal Poly a 2-1 lead.
The momentum shifted in the sixth. Long Beach State’s Christina Schallig hit a RBI single through the left side and, in the seventh, she grounded to the pitcher, but allowed Sarah Carrasco to score from third to take the lead.
They wouldn’t falter down the stretch.
The second game wasn’t as close. Anna Cahn started the game and went 4 2/3 innings and gave up four earned runs off nine hits. Trista Thomas came on in relief. She pitched the rest of the game and gave up three earned runs off four hits.
At the plate, the Mustangs couldn’t match the 49ers. Cahn nailed a solo shot to right in the seventh — the Mustangs’ only run — but it was already too late to mount a comeback.
Long Beach State pieced together two runs off two RBI hits, then Karli Sandoval hit a two-run home run to right center to cap a four-run rally in the fifth.
It got even worse. The 49ers added a two-run sixth and a one-run seventh to take the 7-1 win.
It sends the Mustangs home as losers of two of three games, but the win in the finale does give the Mustangs some momentum as they head further into the tail-end of their conference schedule.
Next weekend Cal Poly will travel south to take on Cal State Northridge in a three-game conference series.