ARCADIA — Arcadia pitcher Samantha Almaraz admitted she didn’t have her best stuff during Thursday’s game against Muir in the Pacific League.

She gave up a two-run home run to Muir’s Alyssa Perez and solo homers to Jazmin Jaquez and Gigi Butler.

But after Butler’s homer in the fifth inning made it a one-run game, Almaraz buckled down and retired seven straight batters to close out a 5-4 victory for the Apaches.

Almaraz gave up four hits and had seven strikeouts. Three of the hits for Muir (13-7, 1-2) were home runs.

“I honestly didn’t do as well as I thought I could, but I had a lot of confidence in my team,” Almaraz said. “I knew I had to do as good as I could and just keep the ball moving and hit my locations.”

The final seven outs were crucial for Arcadia (10-7-1, 3-1). The game ended on a strikeout with Muir’s power hitters, Abi Milton, Butler, Jaquez and Perez, next in line to hit.

“Pitching is tough, everyone expects pitchers to dominate,” Arcadia coach David Aspeitia said. “But you miss a pitch here or there and they can put the swings on you. But she (Almaraz) did what she had to do (with their big hitters coming up).”

Muir was playing catch-up after the Apaches took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Arcadia’s Jordan Cordeiro drove in Peyton Fox with a single. With two outs and the bases loaded, Nia White belted a two-run single.

“They were huge,” Aspeitia said of the early runs. “It’s easier to play when you have a little lead. I wish we had more, but we let this team hang around and they just chipped away.”

Perez hit a two-run home run in the second inning that cut the Apaches’ lead to 3-2.

The Mustangs’ defense let them down in the fourth inning, dropping a one-out pop fly at second base that helped start an Apaches rally.

Bella Martinez followed with a double that scored Vanessa Patino from first base. The Mustangs’ throw home was ahead of Patino, but a dropped ball allowed her to score. Addy Ruiz followed with an RBI single to stretch the lead to 5-2.

Muir’s power kept the game close with solo homers from Jaquez and Butler, but Mustangs coach Matthew Milton blamed the small things for letting the game get away.

Muir gave freshman pitcher Raquel Paez her first start, and she competed well through 3 1/3 innings before handing it to over to Jaquez, who allowed one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings.

“This was a game of inches and details,” Milton said. “If we work on those inches and details we win this game. Our pitching did a phenomenal job. My young freshman Raquel kept them on their toes and my senior (Jaquez) came in and settled it for us.

“But those details are pop ups, and we left about 10 girls on the bases. So, if we take care of our job and work on the little things, we win this game. We just have to learn from our lessons.”

Oddly, Muir was the home team at Arcadia. The Mustangs were scheduled to be at home, but they learned this week that their fields are unavailable while the Pasadena Unified School District works with the city’s health department to test the lead levels in the soil on those fields in the wake of January’s Eaton fire.

Aspeitia said it was an adjustment, and he was happy with how his team responded after the Mustangs’ home runs.

“It shows a lot about our team to play with a one-run lead and come away with this, especially on our home field and not being the home team,” Aspeitia said. “It was a little tough (being the road team). You have to change your mindset, but I’m proud of this team and I can’t say enough about Muir. They’ve really changed their program and they’re getting a lot of recognition for it, as they should.”