Cuesta Softball split its doubleheader at Ventura last Thursday and ended the 2021 season with a 9-1 record. The Cougars were chasing a perfect season on the final day; however, their .900 winning percentage is still 2nd best in program history- behind the 1983 squad's .906 mark (29-3). The Cougars remain atop the Western State Conference standings and are the only member of the four-team WSC with a winning record this season. The Cougars have been a model program over the pandemic and have 26-8 record over the past two abbreviated seasons, including a 10-1 mark against the WSC. Cuesta's setback in Game 1 ended the Cougars' eleven-game WSC winning streak that began on the final day of the 2019 season, while also closing out their 13-game overall winning streak that began March 5, 2020.
GAME ONE: Ventura 10, Cuesta 9 (8 INN)- The Cougars dropped Thursday's opener in extra inning, 10-9, to end their bid for perfection. Cuesta came off the bus flat and the team that had trailed for only two innings this season quickly fell behind 3-1, before exploding for four runs in the 4th inning. Ventura took back the lead with three runs in the 5th, 6-5, but a costly error in the 7th extended the game to extra innings. Cuesta turned a pair of RBI-doubles into a commanding three-run lead in the 8th inning, but the Pirates drew a pair of walks to open their at-bat and tied the game on a RBI-double. Two outs later a RBI-single provided host Ventura with the victory, 10-9.
GAME TWO: CUESTA 6, Ventura 3- Cuesta returned to form in Game 2 and never trailed in the nightcap. Cuesta took a 3-2 lead into the 3rd inning and added three more runs to close out the season with a final triumph, 6-3. Pitcher Leea Brown earned the complete game victory and completed her season with a 5-0 record.
On the day, Catcher Kaitlin Eccles and Third Baseman Katie Lamar led the Cougars on offense. Eccles was 3-for-7, including a pair of doubles, while scoring once and driving in four more over the twinbill. Lamar was a very respectable 3-for-8 on the day and did it with power. All three of her hits went for extra bases, a pair of doubles and a triple, while she also both scored three runs and drove three in.