Cal Poly Softball cruised to a three-game sweep of CSU Bakersfield from Saturday, April 15 through Sunday, April 16 at Bob Janssen Field.
The Mustangs (14-16, 7-8 Big West) outscored the Roadrunners (6-32, 1-14 Big West) 20-1 en route to the conference series victory.
With the trio of wins, head coach Jenny Condon is now in sole position of the all-time win record for the Mustangs after 19 years and 444 total victories, passing Lisa Boyer’s mark.
Saturday Game One
Everything was clicking for Cal Poly to open the series as the Mustangs dominated game one of Saturday’s doubleheader 8-0 in five innings.
Sophomore right-hander Paige Maier drew the start and didn’t allow a run or a hit over two innings while tacking on two strikeouts.
She was relieved by freshman righty Sophia Ramuno, who pitched three innings without allowing a run and striking out five before the game was called.
With a runner on third in the first inning, the Mustangs struck first after a fielding error allowed the runner to score to go up 1-0 early.
In the second, a Cal Poly sacrifice bunt resulted in a run after the ball was thrown away and the runner from first scored. This was then followed up by another error from CSU Bakersfield the brought in a run to extend the Mustang lead to 3-0.
After a scoreless third, with runners on first and third the Mustangs added onto their lead after sophomore center fielder Jessica Clements baited a throw to second base to score the runner from third.
Junior catcher Kai Barrett followed that up with an RBI single to put them up 5-0 after three.
The Mustangs didn’t take their foot off the gas as they added three more runs on a two-RBI single from senior infielder Ellie Yamashita and an RBI triple by sophomore infielder Caroline Allman to go up 8-0 and end the game after five innings.
Saturday Game Two
Cal Poly swept Saturday’s doubleheader by taking game two over the Roadrunners by a score of 5-1.
Sophomore righty Kate Judy pitched three strong innings without allowing a run before being relieved by Ramuno, who tossed 2 2/3 innings of one-run ball. After Ramuno, Maier closed the game out.
The first few innings were highlighted by sophomore catcher Julia Barnett making a diving tag at home to get the runner out in the third inning and keep the game scoreless.
CSU Bakersfield broke the scoreless tie in the fourth and took a 1-0 lead on an inside-the-park homerun after Yamashita was injured in left trying to make a diving play.
The Mustangs hit right back in their half of the fourth inning, as they took the lead on a two-RBI triple from Clements and an RBI single from junior outfielder Juju Sargent to go up 3-1.
After a scoreless fifth, Cal Poly added on two more runs thanks to a throwing error on the Roadrunners and a double-steal that allowed Clements to steal home, putting them up 5-1 before Maier closed out the victory.
Sunday
Cal Poly completed the sweep on Sunday with a 7-0 shutout win to give Condon her place in the Mustang record books.
Maier was given the nod on Sunday and gave a masterclass performance, allowing two hits in five innings pitched.
The right-hander got a two-run cushion early in her start after Allman and Sargent scored on two consecutive throwing errors.
Sargent did more than just base run, as she finished the game with three hits, two runs scored and two RBI.
The Mustangs took a six-run lead into the top of the sixth inning, allowing Ramuno to come in and close out the rest of the game.
Ramuno pitched the final two innings only surrendering one hit.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mustangs continued to tack on insurance runs, as Allman drove home Clements on a sacrifice fly.
Cal Poly will look to ride its current four-game win streak into a series on the road against Long Beach State beginning on Saturday, April 22.