Cal Poly Softball overcame a five-run deficit to win their first game of the season, caused by a Mustang offensive surge and defensive breakdowns on Oregon State’s side.
After completing five games this weekend in the Mustang Classic, Cal Poly begins the season with a 1-4 record.
The Mustangs, down 6-5, scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to collect their first win of the season in walk-off fashion.
However, it was freshman pitcher Natalie Camarena who stole the show.
An unlikely hero, Camarena started the game on the bench. When her opportunity came, she gave Cal Poly everything they needed to come back from a 5-0 deficit.
Camarena puts the Mustangs back on track
Camarena ended the game 2-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBIs. In the circle, she got her first collegiate victory, giving up just one earned run through 5 ⅓ innings on four hits.
Senior Paige Maier started the game in the circle and gave up five runs in the second, none of which were earned.
A dropped pop fly by sophomore infielder Sehren Martinez with two outs and runners on first and second led to a double and home run. The Beavers led 5-0 after the second.
Camarena, subbed in for Maier in the second, knocked a line-drive solo home run to kickstart the Mustang offense in the third inning.
Her home run was her first hit and RBI of her collegiate career and the first hit for the Mustangs this game, making it 5-1.
“I really couldn’t believe that happened,” Camarena said in a strained, raspy voice after the game.
The Mustang offense took that energy from the third and came alive in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded, sophomore outfielder A’Niyla Byrd hit a base-clearing double that one-hopped the wall.
Camarena’s bat came up clutch again, driving in Byrd on a single to right to tie the game at 5-5.
In the circle, she gave up just three hits the rest of the game and one run in the seventh. The newfound energy from the team after her home run kept her poised and excited in the circle for the rest of the game.
“Knowing that people have my back and knowing that everyone wants me to do well is the best feeling ever,” Camarena said.
For Oregon State, one pitcher, Logan Hulon, was the source of her own energy.
Hulon entered the game in the fourth after the Mustangs tied it at 5-5.
Letting up just one hit through three innings, she let out a relentless scream after every single strike as the bats went cold near the end.
While fans murmured in her seemingly obnoxious but animated verve, Cal Poly Head Coach Jenny Condon respected it.
“She’s got a ton of confidence in herself,” Condon said. “You can see when the pitcher is confident, everybody behind them is confident. She’s fun to watch.”
A seventh-inning escape
The classic sports mantra, “defense wins games,” proved true in this game, as only one of Cal Poly’s seven runs were earned.
Down 6-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, seven batters stepped up to the plate for Cal Poly—none of them collected a hit.
After freshman outfielder Maddy Bermudez reached first on a dropped third strike, junior outfielder Kiara Blanchard’s sacrifice bunt moved Bermudez to third on a missed throw to first by Oregon State.
The second baseman made a diving play on senior catcher Julia Barnett’s ground ball but could not get the ball home in time, tying the game once again.
With two outs and the bases loaded, freshman infielder Sienna Erskine hit a ground ball to third base. She had time to tag her base but misfired to allow Blanchard to score and the Mustangs to take a walk-off victory.
While Camarena and Bermudez, who started this game at the leadoff spot, have begun to show signs of capability, nothing is set in stone yet for Cal Poly.
“We’ve been focusing on [Camarena] in the circle, because I think we’re going to win more games with her in the circle,” Condon said. “But, I think her bat is definitely going to help us and give us some flexibility defensively as well.”
The Mustangs have another set of games from Feb. 14-16 in the Silicon Valley Classic, hosted by Santa Clara and San Jose State.
