Photo by: Owen Main
Cal Poly Hosts UC San Diego May 12-13 to Close 2023 Season
5/9/2023 1:10:00 PM | Softball
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Seeking its highest finish in the Big West standings in five years, the Cal Poly softball program closes the 2023 season when hosting UC San Diego for a Friday, May 12 doubleheader and Saturday, May 13 matchup at Bob Janssen Field. First pitch each afternoon on ESPN+ is 1 p.m. for Cal Poly (17-22, 10-14), which – with a sweep of UC San Diego (18-31, 8-16) – can potentially jump from seventh place in the standings to fifth and achieve the program's highest finish since a fourth-place showing in 2018. Cal Poly also seeks its first series win against UC San Diego in three attempts as a Big West opponent. Having dropped five straight, the Tritons have drifted to eighth place.
FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Daniel Gillman returns to provide play-by-play for ESPN+ of each series game HERE … live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC SAN DIEGO: Cal Poly and UC San Diego squared off 18 times between 1987 and 1994 as Division II opponents, but have faced each other just six times since with the Tritons taking two of three matchups from the Mustangs in 2021 (San Luis Obispo) and 2022 (La Jolla). The Mustangs lead the all-time series, 20-4.
CONDON MAKES HISTORY: Ranked seventh in Big West Conference history with 447 career victories, 19th-year head coach Jenny Condon became the program's all-time victories leader with Cal Poly's 7-0 home win against CSU Bakersfield (April 16). Surpassing Lisa Boyer (who won 443 games from 1989-2004), Condon has accounted for 38.7 (447 of 1,156) percent of the total victories in Cal Poly softball history. In Cal Poly Athletics Department history, only current baseball head coach Larry Lee (2003-) has overseen more victories (629) than Condon.
LEADOFF BY EXAMPLE: Cal Poly's leadoff batter in all 87 games since the start of her career last spring, sophomore center fielder Jessica Clements enters the program's May 12-13 series with UC San Diego ranked fifth in the Big West with a .375 (48-for-128) batting average. Having reached base in 27 of the last 29 games, Clements also leads Cal Poly with 10 multi-hit games while ranking fourth among Big West players with a .467 on-base percentage, fifth with 48 hits and 10 doubles and eighth with 27 runs. Having reached base in all but three games this season, Clements is averaging 1.2 hits per game and has batted safely in 32 of 39 appearances – including a 5-for-5 effort against Hawai'i (April 8) that matched an all-time Big West record for single game hits. The leading hitter in Cal Poly's 49-year program history with a .387 (111-for-287) mark, Clements has produced 28 collegiate multi-hit outings.
RAMUNO RISES IN THE CIRCLE: With 125 strikeouts – the fifth highest total among Big West pitchers and 11th best in program single season history – Cal Poly freshman righthander Sophia Ramuno ranks fifth among conference pitchers in victories (11), seventh in innings pitched (127.1) and ninth in starts (19). Featuring a 2.6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Ramuno is averaging 0.98 strikeouts per inning. She produced a career best 10 strikeouts during a March 25 victory at UC Riverside while enjoying a nine-strikeout performance in relief at UC Davis (May 7). Ramuno also owns eight-strikeout games against Nevada (Feb. 12), Fresno State (March 3) and CSUN (March 19).
SARGENT TRENDING UPWARD: Junior right fielder Juju Sargent has batted .361 (13-for-36) during Cal Poly's last 11 games, bringing her season average to a .294 (37-for-126) mark that ranks second in the lineup. One of six Mustangs to start all 39 games – but one of only three to do so at the same position alongside center fielder Jessica Clements and shortstop Xiara Diaz – Sargent ranks eighth among Big West players with 12 steals and remains first in Cal Poly's lineup with six multi-RBI games and second for hits (37) and multi-hit games (nine).
ALLMAN JOY: Amongst Cal Poly's leading hitters all season and now third with a .276 (32-for-116) mark, sophomore designated player Caroline Allman enters the May 12-13 series with UC San Diego as the program's leader with 23 RBI and six multi-RBI games. After collecting just total four hits as a freshman last spring, Allman has enjoyed nine multi-hit games in 2023 – including three-hit efforts versus California (March 25) and Fresno State (April 3).
CAL POLY SELECTED SIXTH IN BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL: With sophomore center fielder Jessica Clements earning a position on the preseason coaches' team, the Cal Poly softball program was selected for a sixth-place finish in the 2023 Big West Preseason Poll. Cal Poly collected 40 total points in the poll and one first-place vote to finish just one point behind CSUN. Defending Big West champion Cal State Fullerton was selected to retain its title with 80 points and eight of 10 first-place votes. Last year's runner-up, Long Beach State, finished second with 68 points and the remaining first-place vote. Hawai'i (59 points) and UC San Diego (56) finished third and fourth in the poll, respectively.
ETC.: Now in its 49th year of varsity competition, Cal Poly played the program's 2,200th game during a 6-5, eight-inning home win against Idaho State (Feb. 21) … Cal Poly has lost six scheduled games to rain: a Feb. 24 matchup with Iowa State (Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic) and five games at the program's March 10-12 Mustang Classic (two each versus Loyola University Chicago and South Dakota State and one against Saint Mary's).
FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Daniel Gillman returns to provide play-by-play for ESPN+ of each series game HERE … live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.
CAL POLY VERSUS UC SAN DIEGO: Cal Poly and UC San Diego squared off 18 times between 1987 and 1994 as Division II opponents, but have faced each other just six times since with the Tritons taking two of three matchups from the Mustangs in 2021 (San Luis Obispo) and 2022 (La Jolla). The Mustangs lead the all-time series, 20-4.
CONDON MAKES HISTORY: Ranked seventh in Big West Conference history with 447 career victories, 19th-year head coach Jenny Condon became the program's all-time victories leader with Cal Poly's 7-0 home win against CSU Bakersfield (April 16). Surpassing Lisa Boyer (who won 443 games from 1989-2004), Condon has accounted for 38.7 (447 of 1,156) percent of the total victories in Cal Poly softball history. In Cal Poly Athletics Department history, only current baseball head coach Larry Lee (2003-) has overseen more victories (629) than Condon.
LEADOFF BY EXAMPLE: Cal Poly's leadoff batter in all 87 games since the start of her career last spring, sophomore center fielder Jessica Clements enters the program's May 12-13 series with UC San Diego ranked fifth in the Big West with a .375 (48-for-128) batting average. Having reached base in 27 of the last 29 games, Clements also leads Cal Poly with 10 multi-hit games while ranking fourth among Big West players with a .467 on-base percentage, fifth with 48 hits and 10 doubles and eighth with 27 runs. Having reached base in all but three games this season, Clements is averaging 1.2 hits per game and has batted safely in 32 of 39 appearances – including a 5-for-5 effort against Hawai'i (April 8) that matched an all-time Big West record for single game hits. The leading hitter in Cal Poly's 49-year program history with a .387 (111-for-287) mark, Clements has produced 28 collegiate multi-hit outings.
RAMUNO RISES IN THE CIRCLE: With 125 strikeouts – the fifth highest total among Big West pitchers and 11th best in program single season history – Cal Poly freshman righthander Sophia Ramuno ranks fifth among conference pitchers in victories (11), seventh in innings pitched (127.1) and ninth in starts (19). Featuring a 2.6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Ramuno is averaging 0.98 strikeouts per inning. She produced a career best 10 strikeouts during a March 25 victory at UC Riverside while enjoying a nine-strikeout performance in relief at UC Davis (May 7). Ramuno also owns eight-strikeout games against Nevada (Feb. 12), Fresno State (March 3) and CSUN (March 19).
SARGENT TRENDING UPWARD: Junior right fielder Juju Sargent has batted .361 (13-for-36) during Cal Poly's last 11 games, bringing her season average to a .294 (37-for-126) mark that ranks second in the lineup. One of six Mustangs to start all 39 games – but one of only three to do so at the same position alongside center fielder Jessica Clements and shortstop Xiara Diaz – Sargent ranks eighth among Big West players with 12 steals and remains first in Cal Poly's lineup with six multi-RBI games and second for hits (37) and multi-hit games (nine).
ALLMAN JOY: Amongst Cal Poly's leading hitters all season and now third with a .276 (32-for-116) mark, sophomore designated player Caroline Allman enters the May 12-13 series with UC San Diego as the program's leader with 23 RBI and six multi-RBI games. After collecting just total four hits as a freshman last spring, Allman has enjoyed nine multi-hit games in 2023 – including three-hit efforts versus California (March 25) and Fresno State (April 3).
CAL POLY SELECTED SIXTH IN BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL: With sophomore center fielder Jessica Clements earning a position on the preseason coaches' team, the Cal Poly softball program was selected for a sixth-place finish in the 2023 Big West Preseason Poll. Cal Poly collected 40 total points in the poll and one first-place vote to finish just one point behind CSUN. Defending Big West champion Cal State Fullerton was selected to retain its title with 80 points and eight of 10 first-place votes. Last year's runner-up, Long Beach State, finished second with 68 points and the remaining first-place vote. Hawai'i (59 points) and UC San Diego (56) finished third and fourth in the poll, respectively.
ETC.: Now in its 49th year of varsity competition, Cal Poly played the program's 2,200th game during a 6-5, eight-inning home win against Idaho State (Feb. 21) … Cal Poly has lost six scheduled games to rain: a Feb. 24 matchup with Iowa State (Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic) and five games at the program's March 10-12 Mustang Classic (two each versus Loyola University Chicago and South Dakota State and one against Saint Mary's).
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