CSM blanks nemesis

Yet the freshman didn’t even realize she had won the game for the Lady Bulldogs until she rounded third base and saw teammates Brittany Wilkerson and Lelani Akai waiting to greet her at home plate.

“I wasn’t even thinking it,” Cruse said. “I was like, ‘We’re in the sixth inning, we’ve still got another one.’ So, I had no idea. After I hit it, [my teammates] were like, ‘Game over.’ I was like, ‘Wait. Why?’”

Other than the thrilling finish, it was business as usual as the Lady Bulldogs captured their 40th overall win of the year. With the win, top-seeded CSM advances through the winners’ bracket of the round-robin, double-elimination tournament to take on No at noon Saturday. The Bulldogs will face No. 5 San Joaquin Delta at noon Saturday. Delta beat No. 4 Sacramento 11-4 in the other first-round game Friday.

CSM starting pitcher Ashlynne Neil went the distance Friday to improve her record to 23-1. The sophomore right-hander allowed just three hits over six innings of work to tab the shutout. She has now rattled off 23 consecutive shutout innings dating back to April 15 against De Anza.

Neil was masterful in that she didn’t allow a ball in the air throughout the game. She recorded five strikeouts and 13 groundouts.

“That’s a good sign on a windy day,” said CSM head coach Nicole Borg.

With the wind gusting out to right-center, CSM got on the board early by virtue of some small-ball tactics.

In the first inning, Raquel Martinez started a rally with a leadoff bunt single. After Martinez stole second, Kayleen Smith followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt that went for an infield single, moving Martinez to third. Smith was gunned down attempting to steal second, but Talisa Fiame got her team on the board with a sacrifice fly to center to stake CSM to a 1-0 lead.

In the third, CSM extended its lead with a pair of unearned runs. With two outs, Martinez reached on an infield single as her chopper winged off the third-base bag. Smith followed with a single to center that turned into quite an adventure for the Ohlone defense. First, center fielder Haley McDaniel’s throw into the infield skipped past the cutoff man allowing Martinez to score. When second baseman Alyssa Raguini gathered the errant throw behind first base, she tried to gun down Smith at third base, but the throw got away from Ohlone third baseman Gabriela Reyes, allowing Smith to round the bags for the score, giving CSM a 3-0 lead.

In the fifth, the CSM power showed up. With one out, Martinez drilled a 2-2 offering into the center-field jet stream for a solo home run. Smith reached on an error when the Ohlone outfield dropped a high fly ball to left-center. After a sacrifice bunt by Fiame moved Smith to second, Skania Lemus shot an RBI single to center to give CSM a 5-0 lead.

The decision to bunt Fiame was an interesting one. CSM’s No. 3 hitter had three home runs in two games in last weekend’s regional sweep against Yuba. Borg’s strategy paid off when Lemus delivered the RBI knock out of the cleanup spot.

“I just had a good feeling about Skania coming up and getting a base hit. I knew we needed at least one more run to go into the next inning with some good insurance,” Borg said.

In the sixth, Brooke Ramsey sparked the CSM rally that put the game away with a leadoff single to center. Wilkerson followed with a sacrifice bunt and reached on a throwing error as Ramsey came around to score. Akai followed with a single to right before Cruse ended things on the walk-off three-run blast.

“I kind of struggled in my first two at-bats,” Cruse said. “I was making big swings before and I went in there just thinking, ‘Let’s hit the ball solid. I’ve got two base runners. Let’s move them and see what I can do.’ And the ball was middle in and that’s my favorite pitch and just went for it. It felt good.”

With the win, Smith — CSM’s freshman shortstop — celebrated her 19th birthday in style. And she gave all the props for the CSM infield’s outstanding performance to her pitcher.

“Our pitcher Neil, she usually pitches it right where she wants it,” Smith said. “So, she usually puts it where she wants them too hit it, and we just have to play behind her and make the plays.”

After Saturday’s semifinals, the championship game is scheduled for noon Sunday.