PALO ALTO – Sophomore lefthander Anna Cahn faced just a pair of Portland State hitters over the minimum in tossing a complete-game two-hitter as the Big West Conference-champion Cal Poly softball team won its first NCAA Tournament game at the Division I level and established a new program record for single-season victories with a 5-0 triumph against the Vikings during a loser’s bracket semifinal matchup at the Stanford-hosted Palo Alto Regional Saturday afternoon.

 

With the win at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium, the Mustangs (40-11) advanced to face Nevada (40-18) in the loser’s bracket final at 6 p.m. The winner of the Cal Poly-Nevada matchup advances to face eighth-seeded Stanford (46-9) in Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship series while the loser is eliminated. Nevada, which opened the NCAA Tournament with a 4-1 defeat of Cal Poly Friday, was relegated to the loser’s bracket final with a 9-1, five-inning defeat against Stanford earlier Saturday.

 

Including a 10-3 loss to Stanford Friday, Portland State (29-26) was eliminated from postseason contention.

 

Andrew Tomsky provides play-by-play detail of Cal Poly’s affair with Nevada beginning at 5:50 p.m. while Gametracker and streaming video links are also available above.

 

Set down in order during the first and third innings and held to three hits through three innings by Vikings starting righthander Nicole Latham (16-12), Cal Poly notched the program’s first NCAA Tournament lead in the fourth. Senior third baseman Cristen Lee and senior center fielder Jessica Rogers opened the inning with consecutive hits before moving into scoring position with a sacrifice from freshman right fielder Nora Sobczak. A sacrifice fly from senior left fielder Jenna Maiden then scored Lee before senior second baseman Stephanie Tam singled up the middle to plate Rogers.

 

Cahn opened Cal Poly’s half of the sixth with a single before Cary and Correia drew consecutive walks. Two batters later, junior pinch hitter Sara Kryza drove a base hit into center field to plate Cary before a fielder’s choice from Sobczak scored Correia and furthered Cal Poly’s lead to 4-0.

 

Cahn helped Cal Poly finalize the scoreline in the seventh with a single into right center field that scored Pura from first.

 

In the circle, meanwhile, Cahn (28-6) and the Mustangs were threatened just once. After retiring the initial nine Vikings she faced, Cahn surrendered consecutive base hits to Portland State shortstop Arielle Wiser and third baseman Jamee Rauch to open the fourth. A sacrifice by center fielder Jackie Heide pushed the duo into scoring position, but Cahn induced groundouts from first baseman Jana Rae Slayton and catcher Brandi Scoggins to end the inning.

 

Cahn then retuned to strike out the Portland State side in the fifth before also retiring the Vikings side in the sixth and seventh to post her fourth career outing of two or fewer hits.