Cal Poly Softball’s bats couldn’t keep up with first-place Cal State Fullerton over the weekend as they were swept in a three-game road series at Anderson Family Field.
The Mustangs (22-17, 12-8 Big West) were one out away from securing a series-opening victory on Saturday, but the win slipped out of their hands as the Titans (32-15, 18-3 Big West) walked it off to win 6-5.
The Mustangs were held to just one run over the next two games as they fell 7-1 in game No. 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader and were shutout 6-0 in the series finale on Sunday.
With the sweep, the Mustangs have fallen out of the top three in the Big West as they now sit in fourth place behind Hawaii’s 12-7 conference record.
Cal Poly has lost five out of their last six games against the top two teams in the conference the past two weeks.
Their hopes of winning a Big West title now look slim with only six games left to play in the season.
Mustangs drop series opener via walk-off
Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Mustangs were clinging onto a 5-3 lead after scoring three times in the sixth and seventh, giving themselves a chance to secure the opening game in a series with huge conference implications.
With starting right-hander and sophomore Sophia Ramuno still pitching in the bottom of the seventh, the Mustangs were sitting in a great spot after grabbing a two-run lead.
With two outs and nobody on, the Titans rallied by putting runners aboard first and second. Then, their next batter tied the game at five runs apiece with a bases-clearing double.
With the winning run now aboard, first baseman Kika Ramirez singled, scoring the runner on second and walking it off to end the game at 6-5.
Despite leading twice, the Mustangs couldn’t shut the door on the Titans’ red-hot offense. Cal State Fullerton leads the Big West in team batting average with a .310 clip.
They also boast the lowest team earned run average (ERA) in the conference with the highest fielding percentage.
The Mustangs have leaned on Ramuno all year, who allowed just two hits and one baserunner to reach second through four innings.
Despite a rough weekend, Ramuno still has the second-most strikeouts in the conference with 131.
Other bright spots in the walk-off loss included two Mustangs with three-hit games in junior catcher Julia Barnett and junior centerfielder Jessica Clements.
Senior shortstop Xiara Diaz also had a clutch two-out single that knocked in two runs in the top of the sixth.
Clements, hitting .472, has the third-highest batting average in all of Division-I softball.
Offense stalls, pitching can’t contain the Titans in loss
The Mustangs went down early in Saturday’s second game of the day as the Titans smacked a three-run home run in the first inning to help fuel a 7-1 win.
The Mustang bats went quiet as they were held to just one hit through the first five innings.
Their lone run of the day came in the top of the sixth from Barnett’s RBI double, plating sophomore left fielder Kiara Blanchard.
Clements, who hits lead-off, was held without a hit in three at-bats.
Mustangs drop series in shutout loss
In the series finale, the Mustangs couldn’t find a spark of offense on the road as they were held to four hits and zero runs in Sunday’s loss.
They were matched up against Fullerton’s pitching duo of Hailey Rainey and Staci Chambers, throwing 6 ⅓ innings, who have a combined 31 wins this year and are No. 1 and 2 in the conference in ERA.
Similar to Saturday’s first game, Ramuno was dominant in the circle through the first four innings allowing just three hits and one baserunner as far as third.
Then, in the fifth inning, the Titans broke the game wide open with five runs.
Senior right fielder Juju Sargent led the offense in game No. 3 with two hits, as she’s one of five girls on the team hitting over .300.
The team hasn’t finished higher than seventh in the conference in the last five years, but they’ll look to secure a top-three finish as they are only a half-game back of Hawaii with two series left.
Cal Poly will return home to Bob Janssen Field for the season’s final home series to play UC Davis on Friday, May 3 with a doubleheader kicking off at 1 p.m.