After a standout 2024 season that saw Cal Poly softball finish third place in the Big West with a 28-17 overall record and an 18-8 mark in conference play, the Mustangs have hit a rough patch early in the 2025 season.
Despite a mix of returning players and fresh talent, the team is 4-23 and is still searching for its first conference win.
Last season, under head coach Jenny Condon, Cal Poly posted one of its best performances in recent history. The Mustangs’ efforts were highlighted by multiple individual accolades, with Condon earning her fourth career Big West Coach of the Year award and returning senior catcher Julia Barnett taking home Big West Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Outfielder Jessica Clements, who transferred to UCLA this past season, earned Big West Player of the Year. She was the leading hitter in the program’s history with a .387 career batting average.
However, with Clements gone, the team is working to fill the void left by her absence, relying on returning players like Barnett to help lead the team.
The Mustangs’ struggles in 2025 have been particularly evident in the batter’s box. This past weekend, Cal Poly scored no runs across three games against Cal State Fullerton.
The lineup has struggling to bring runners home is an issue that has plagued the team all season. Cal Poly is 4-2 in games where they score four runs or more, but they’ve only managed that mark six out of 27 games this season.
The lack of offensive production has put additional pressure on the pitching staff, who have had to shoulder much of the burden. While the Mustangs have shown flashes of strong defensive play, there was a lack of defensive discipline this past weekend.
The Mustangs’ recent series against Cal State Fullerton highlighted their defensive struggles.
In the top of the third inning, Fullerton exploded for 10 runs on 10 hits, with Cal Poly errors also contributing to the Titan’s run.
A throwing error by the infield allowed an early run to score, and from there, Fullerton strung together a series of hits, including a bases-clearing triple that put the game further out of reach.
Cal Poly’s defense struggled to contain the offensive onslaught, and by the time the inning ended, the Mustangs faced a daunting 10-0 deficit. Their offense failed to respond, going down quietly in the bottom of the third.
As Cal Poly continues to navigate this season’s challenges, the team will need to find answers quickly if it hopes to improve in Big West play. They are currently seeded in last place in the Big West (4-23, 0-9 Big West).
So far, all four of the team’s wins have come in early-season tournaments, often following slow starts. Each victory came in the final game of a tournament, with the team struggling to find urgency early in the competition.
A lack of execution in the opening games has set the Mustangs back, forcing them to play catch-up rather than establishing momentum from the start.
With conference play in full swing, Cal Poly desperately needs offensive answers if they want to avoid falling further behind in the Big West standings.
The Mustangs will travel to Washington this week for a non-conference game against Seattle University on Wednesday, March 26.