May 3, 2009

Box Score

San Luis Obispo, Calif. - Despite their best efforts in the final inning of the afternoon's contest, the Pacific softball team could not overcome an early deficit, falling 6-3 to No. 21 Cal Poly on Sunday, May 3. The loss for the Tigers dropped their record to 18-31 overall and 3-15 in conference play while the Mustangs improved to 26-10 overall and 15-3 in the Big West.

Finishing their three game series with the Mustangs at Bob Janssen Field, the Tigers squared off looking for their first conference series win of the season. However, standing in the Tigers way of their first series win was Anna Cahn for the Mustangs who was the winning pitcher for Cal Poly in game one.

In a contest featuring the two winning pitchers from day one, the early rounds of the face off went to the Mustangs and Cahn as Cal Poly jumped out front of the Tigers early, knocking freshman Gabby McDaniel (Sacramento, Calif.) out of the contest in just the third inning of play. At the plate, the Mustangs took advantage of McDaniel for four runs on just three hits as McDaniel gave up six free passes and added two wild pitches in 2.2 innings of work.

In the second inning of action, the Mustangs notched a single run on the scoreboard as they used just one hit and three walks to do the first damage in the game. Facing the heart of the order in the bottom of the third, McDaniel relinquished a leadoff double to Krysten Cary which sparked a three run inning when the Mustangs added a pair of singles on top of a pair of walks to push their early lead to four runs.

With McDaniel out of the contest, senior Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) stepped in to the circle to stop the Mustangs advances. However, Engle would suffer from an infield error to start the inning that would turn into two unearned runs on the Tigers second bad break of the inning when a routine ground ball turned into a two run single on a freakishly bad hop off the bat of Stephanie Correia.

Spotted a six run lead, Cahn was nearly unhittable in the circle for the Mustangs as she held the Tigers to just two hits through the first six innings of the contest. The lone Tiger batter to get to Cahn throughout the first six innings of play was senior Briana Santos (Garden Grove, Calif.) who posted two singles early and added a third in the Tigers' seventh inning rally.

On cruise control for most of the contest, Cahn ran into a jam in the seventh inning when Pacific sent eight batters to the plate and broke up her shutout bid with their first crooked number of the weekend. With one out in the inning, the Tigers sent five batters to the plate with out recording their second out of the inning as Pacific posted four hits and one walk through the heart of the order.

Starting the inning off, senior Lauren Weyman (Carlsbad, Calif.), the game winner from game two, laced a double down the left field line to post just the third hit of the afternoon for Pacific. Followed by a walk to sophomore Nicole Matson (Castaic, Calif.), the Tigers loaded the bases for the first time in the contest on Santos' third single of the afternoon.

With three Tigers on base, junior Kellee Wilson (Tracy, Calif.) broke up the shutout bid for Cahn with a blooped single to left that scored Weyman and kept the bases loaded. Continuing the rally, junior Karie Wilson (Glendale, Ariz.) followed form with a single up the middle to plate the second run of the inning. In the at bat, Wilson fouled off three 1-2 pitches before beating Cahn with her first hit of the afternoon.

Pacific would add a third run to the board on a ground ball to the left side by freshman Amanda Collier (Sparks, Nev.) as the play went to third to pick up the second out of the inning while allowing the Tigers' runner to score from third. With the tying run at the plate and runners at first and second, Cahn finally came up with the Mustangs' third out of the inning to halt the Tigers rally and capture the series for Cal Poly.

Cahn finished the contest with five strike outs and one walk while giving up six hits and three runs in seven innings pitched.

The Tigers will close out play in the 2009 season with their final three-game series of the year as they host Long Beach State at Bill Simoni Field. The opening double header will be played on Friday, May 8, beginning at 1:00 pm.