SEASIDE --- The NCAA national and regional softball polls were released Wednesday and although Cal State Monterey Bay has moved up to No. 4 in the regional poll, a national ranking still eludes the Otters.

The Otters are currently in a three-way tie in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with two ranked opponents: No. 16 UC San Diego (13-13) and No. 25 San Francisco State (12-12). CSUMB split its four-game series with UC San Diego earlier this season and will face SFSU this week, with doubleheaders on Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at noon.

CSUMB is actually ranked ahead of San Francisco State (No. 6)  in the regional poll. Other schools were also inexplicably left out of the national poll. CSU Stanislaus, in second place in the CCAA at 18-10,  is ranked No. 3 in the regional poll, but dropped out of the national poll.

Pitching and defense continue to carry the softball team. CSUMB is ninth in the league in batting average and eighth in runs scored. While there are several players having great offensive seasons, the only offensive categories where an Otter is in the league's top 10 are Sacrifice bunts, CSUMB's #Megan Luna#, #Jill Artoff# and #Alixis Villarin# are all tied in third with 8; Sac flies, where Villarin leads the league with 5; Stolen bases, Casey Kaufman is second with 16; and Hit by pitch, where #Homa Shafii# has bruised her way to seventh with 6.

But CSUMB has three pitchers that are in the top 10 in the CCAA in ERA: #Noemi Torres# (2.40), #Angela Cabral# (2.46), and Jessica Boyle (2.46), are ranked 7, 8 and 9. Cabral is second in the CCAA in wins with 15. Opponents are batting just .226 against Torres, fourth in the CCAA. Boyle is fifth on that list at .231 and Cabral is ninth at .239.

Don't miss the Otters Friday and Saturday at the CSUMB Softball Complex off Second Ave.