Cal Poly softball continued their hot streak on the road as they swept Cal State Bakersfield in a three-game series to extend their winning streak to four games.
The series started with a doubleheader Friday, followed by the series finale Saturday morning. The Mustangs (21-12, 11-3 Big West) wins all came differently.
Game No. 1 ended in a mercy rule that ended in 5 innings, game No. 2 was a one-run win, and game No. 3 went into eight innings.
Sophomore starter Sophia Ramuno continued her dominance as the Mustangs’ ace against the Roadrunners (4-33, 2-13 Big West), striking out 16 batters over 11 innings of work in the series.
Ramuno now leads the Big West Conference in strikeouts with 118.
The Mustangs remain in a tight contest for first place in the Big West, as they sit just two wins behind Cal State Fullerton who holds a conference record of 13-2. In second place, Long Beach State has a conference record of 12-3.
Mustangs run-rule Bakersfield in five innings after a seven-run first inning
The Cal Poly bats started off hot with a seven-run first inning to help them secure a 10-1 win in their first game against Bakersfield.
Three doubles led the offense in the first inning from senior designated player Mia Perez, senior right fielder Juju Sargent and junior center fielder Jessica Clements.
Clements’ double came with two outs and the bases loaded, plating three runs and capping off a massive first inning.
Clements leads the conference and nation in batting average with a .483 clip while leading the Big West in slugging percentage.
She is also second in hits and on-base percentage and third in runs scored.
Ramuno got the start, retired the first six batters she faced and struck out the side in the second and third innings, allowing just one hit against the Roadrunners through three innings.
After tacking on two more runs to make it a 9-0 game, junior Kate Judy came in to relieve Ramuno in the bottom of the fourth. She would only pitch two innings, as the game was called due to mercy rule in the fifth inning.
Perez and Clements combined for seven RBIs and two runs scored, contributing to nine out of the 10 runs for the Mustangs.
Freshman second baseman Sehren Martinez has found her role within the offense, adding her first multi-hit game of the season. She has now started in 17 games for the Mustangs.
Senior shortstop Xiara Diaz also added a hit and two runs herself. Diaz’s batting average is good for fifth in the conference as she’s currently hitting .361.
Mustangs edge Roadrunners 2-1 in pitchers’ duel
The Mustangs’ two runs would prove to be enough in game No. 2 as their trio of pitchers shut down the Roadrunners to secure them the series win.
In the top of the first, Clements would lead off with a single and steal second, eventually coming home and scoring on a Bakersfield error. The Bakersfield defense committed three errors in the game, two leading to runs.
Junior Paige Maier got the start in the circle, but would only go one and two-thirds inning as she conceded the game-tying run in the bottom of the second.
Judy relieved Maier with two outs and a runner on third in the second and would strand the runner to keep the game tied at one.
Diaz would lead off with a single, steal second and eventually score on a mishandled groundball by the defense off the bat of sophomore Kiara Blanchard, in the top of the fifth inning.
Judy would pitch until the fifth inning, holding the Bakersfield offense to only three hits in that span.
Ramuno would pick up her third save of the year while striking out three as she came in to relieve Judy.
Clements, Diaz, Blanchard and Sargent are all inside the top 20 highest Big West batting averages with .483, .361, .324 and .321 averages, in order.
Series sweep completed with eighth-inning outburst
With the game tied in the top of the eighth inning, junior infielder Caroline Allman delivered the go-ahead single to right field, driving in sophomore Mylina Garza and putting the Mustangs ahead of Cal State Bakersfield by one.
The Mustangs followed up with three more runs in the inning behind singles from senior Claire Early and Clements, and a bases-loaded walk for Blanchard to secure the 6-2 win over the Roadrunners.
It was Allman’s seventh conference at-bat of the year, and it came at the perfect time for the Mustangs to break away in what had been a close game heading into extra innings.
Judy was credited with her eighth win of the season after taking over for Ramuno in the sixth inning.
Both pitchers had strong outings, with Judy holding the Roadrunners hitless while Ramuno struck out six across 5.1 innings.
Senior first baseman Kai Barrett had her best game of the season offensively, going 4-for-4 with an RBI and a key hit in the extra-inning rally. The four hits were a career-high and pushed her average on the season to .299.
The Mustang offense has been their calling card so far this year, as they get on base at a higher rate than any other team in the Big West Conference.
Though the home run stats don’t jump out, they lead the Big West in on-base percentage at .377 and are second in team batting average at .302.
Potentially even more telling, they rarely strike out, totaling just 85 on the year with the next lowest team totaling 135 in UC Davis.
The win keeps the Mustangs in third place in the Big West standings and within two games of conference-leading Cal State Fullerton.
The next two opponents will be the Mustangs’ biggest challenge of the year, as they are set to face Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton, the top two teams in the Big West, in back-to-back matchups.
Cal Poly will look to jump both of those teams with a three-game set against Long Beach State starting on Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m. at Bob Janssen Field.