SEASIDE, Calif. --- SEASIDE --- Clutch pitching by #Angela Cabral# lifted Cal State Monterey Bay to a sweep of a doubleheader over CSU Stanislaus on Friday. Cabral pitched the final two-thirds inning of the first game to close out a 2-1 win and then threw eight innings in the second game for a 3-2 victory.
The victories lift CSUMB to 10-5 on the season. Stanislaus dropped to 3-9. It was the first conference series of the season for the Warriors and the Otters first at their new softball complex.
Freshman #Noemi Torres# started the first game and had a shutout going when she began the seventh inning, but after giving up a homerun to Alyssa Guzman and then another single, she gave way to Cabral. #Ashlee Trotter# hit a solo homer for CSUMB and #Jill Artoff# knocked in the other run.
Cabral stayed on the mound for the second game and remained there when the game went into extra innings. The Otters had a 2-0 lead in the fifth when Cabral gave up two solo homers, one of them to Guzman. The score stayed tied until the top of the eighth when #Rachelle Morales# singled in #Kristen Rasmussen#, who got on board with a walk.
With the season just a quarter of the way finished and conference play in just its second week, the Otters have already nearly won half as many games as they did last year and have almost as many conference victories.
,Seniors #Jill Artoff# and #Kristen Rasmussen# said team chemistry has been a big part of the success.
"The team chemistry is above and beyond", said Artoff. "We are really playing like a team and we all back each other up on and off the field."
"We came out confident, focused, and ready to win,” said Rasmussen. “We played with a lot of pride being on our new field and it was a true team effort."
Trotter, now in her junior season, has started every game in CSUMB history. In 2006, Trotter that hit the first homerun in CSUMB history. Friday, she added another note to her legacy at CSUMB by hitting her 20th career homerun and tallying the first at the new softball complex. After Warriors' pitcher Jessica Gaumintz retired the first three batters consecutively in the first, Trotter sent one over the left field fence on a full count.
"I'm happy to see Ashlee Trotter obtain essentially the first of everything offensively at our new facility,” said CSUMB head coach
Andrea Kenney “I can't think of someone more deserving; she's stuck with the program since day one.”
"I was really excited to hit the first homerun on our new field. It seemed to get the team and crowd pumped up, which was great," said Trotter.
Gaumnitz contained the Otters, but in the bottom of the fourth Alixis Villarin hit a stand up double to right centerfield. Three batters later, Jill Artoff hit a single to right, scoring Villarin.
Alixis Villerin (2 for 3) was the leading hitter for the Otters in the first game. Torres pitched 6 and 1/3 of an inning and allowed four hits and struck out six batters. Guzman went 2 for 3 and Britney Borba had the fourth hit for the Warriors. Jessica Gaumnitz picked up the loss, pitching a complete game and striking out six.
In game two, the Otters got on the board first when Rasmussen singled to left field and later scored on a fielder's choice RBI by Villarin. Leading 1-0 in the top of the fifth, Homa Shafii ripped a triple into right centerfield, scoring Villarin, who reached base on a bunt single. The Warriors responded in the bottom of the inning, when Guzman hit her second homer of the day. Kimiko Wright followed with another to left centerfield, tying the game 2-2.
But In the top of the eighth, Rasmussen reached base on a walk and advanced to third on an unsuccessful pick off at first. Rachelle Morales then hit the game winning RBI, a single through the right side.
Rasmussen (2 for 3), Shafii (2 for 3), and Marissa Trujillo (2 for 3) led the 10-hit attack, while Casey Kaufman (1 for 4) and Jill Artoff (1 for 1) had the remaining hits for the Otters. Cabral pitched eight innings, allowed only two earned runs, and struck out six. Megan Franksen (1 for 3), Wright (1 for 3), and Guzman (1 for 3) had the only hits for the Warriors. Nikki DeLeon pitched all eight innings and received the loss.
