The Cal Poly softball team played five games in the LMU tournament in Los Angeles this weekend and swept all of them to run their win streak to eight in a row. The weekend started off with a 3-1 win on Friday against Oklahoma and an 11-0 win against Dartmouth followed by a 3-1 win against Oklahoma on Saturday. The Mustangs (23-7) wrapped up the weekend with a 7-2 win against Sacramento State and a 2-1 win against Dartmouth Sunday afternoon.
Friday | Against Oklahoma
Friday’s game against the Sooners (24-7) marked the third game the Mustangs have played this season against a currently ranked team. But unlike the losses to Oregon and Minnesota, the Mustangs would find enough offense to win the morning game in a signature performance from senior pitcher Sierra Hyland.
Hyland shined in the early game, throwing nine strikeouts in seven innings and giving up just one run on one hit. A solo home run to Oklahoma third baseman Sydney Romero in the top of the first inning would be all the Sooners could manage the entire game.
With Hyland controlling the game from the circle, the Mustangs needed little offensively to win the game. She singled to open the fifth inning to get on base and senior left fielder Courtney Tyler drew a walk right after to get on base as well. Following a sacrifice bunt by sophomore right fielder Crimson Kaiser, sophomore catcher Makenna Young singled to right field to score Hyland and tie the game 1-1. Freshman first baseman Hailey Martin notched the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to plate Tyler.
Junior center fielder Amanda Sandoval’s single later in the fifth inning scored Young and gave the Mustangs a 3-1 lead they’d maintain through the rest of the game.
Friday | Against Dartmouth
Dominance from the circle continued Friday afternoon but this time it was junior pitcher Lindsey Chalmers who threw a one-hitter in the 11-0 win in five innings over the Big Green.
Chalmers notched her seventh win of the season in throwing four strikeouts and giving up one hit in three innings pitched. Freshman pitcher Steffi Best came in beginning in the fourth inning and pitched the final two frames to finish the game, tossing three strikeouts as well.
With Chalmers and Best limiting Dartmouth to nothing offensively for most of the afternoon, the Mustangs’ hitting took control of the game early. Sandoval scored in the top of the first on a passed ball during a bunt single by junior shortstop Chelsea Convissar. Tyler would later be hit by a pitch which scored Convissar and gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead after the first frame.
Cal Poly notched another pair of runs in the second inning as Sandoval scored off a single by junior third baseman Stephanie Heyward and Hyland doubled up the middle to plate Convissar. Martin singled to right field to score Tyler and senior second baseman Ashley Tornio hit a sac fly to bring home Kaiser in the third inning, pushing the Mustangs’ advantage to 6-0.
The Mustangs rattled off five runs in the fourth inning to make it 11-0 and put the game firmly out of reach of Big Green.
Saturday
Saturday saw more of the same from the Mustangs, as Hyland led Cal Poly to another 3-1 win over the defending Women’s College World Series champions.
She pitched another complete game and gave up six hits, stuck out five, gave up one run and one walk in her 12th win of the season. Like the Friday matchup against the Sooners, she gave up the only run in the first inning off a sacrifice fly by Oklahoma right fielder Fale Aviu to bring home second baseman Caleigh Clifton.
From there, the Mustangs’ offense went to work, as Kaiser hit a solo home run in the top of the second to tie the game. Convissor hit a double down center field to score Tornio in the top of the third for the go-ahead run and freshman pinch runner Alyssa McKiernan scored on a fielding error in the top of the seventh to widen the gap.
Sunday
The winning ways would continue for the Mustangs Sunday afternoon in their early matchup 7-2 against Sacramento State behind Chalmers’ work from the circle. She struck out seven, gave up four hits and two runs in her ninth win of the season.
The Mustangs took little time in getting an early lead as Sandoval scored in the top of the first on a fielding error by the Hornets (10-13-1). A walk by Martin scored Convissar to make it 2-0 after the opening frame in favor of the Mustangs.
The Hornets responded in the bottom of the fourth as Jessica Ravetti hit a two-run homer to tie the game 2-2. But the Mustangs would answer with a four-run sixth inning of their own, starting with Tornio’s single up the middle to score McKiernan to get the go-ahead run. Convissar hit a bunt to score Tornio later in the inning and Hyland hit a two-run single to score Convissar and Heyward as well to make it a 6-2 game.
Young’s single down the middle in the seventh inning scored senior infielder Shawna McDonough and gave the Mustangs their 7-2 win.
In the final game of the weekend, the Mustangs held Big Green scoreless for the first five innings. Best started the game but Hyland came in with two down in the second inning, notching six strikeouts that now places her first in all-time Big West Conference career strikeouts.
Hyland would give up one run in the sixth inning as Dartmouth right fielder Micah Schroder scored on a sacrifice fly, but Heyward’s two-run homer in the sixth inning gave the Mustangs an advantage the Big Green couldn’t overcome.
The Mustangs have won 17 of their last 18 games and return home this weekend for a doubleheader against CSU Bakersfield (4-16).