SEASIDE --- Previously No. 3 in the West Region poll, the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters have now moved up to the No. 2 spot and are poised to compete in the 2008 NCAA West Regionals held May 7-11.
The Otters have an overall record of 34-22 and a West Region record of 32-20, which puts them directly behind Humboldt State (47-15 overall, 45-14 in region). As they now travel to Arcata to compete in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Softball Championships along with HSU, CSU Stanislaus and CSU San Bernardino, the Otters are in good shape as they beat HSU once before in regular season CCAA play.
On the CCAA side, the Otters – at the No. 4 seed – have a record of 18-14, HSU is 24-8, CSUS 20-12 and CSUSB is 17-13. They will rely on their strong conference pitching and batting to get them through the tournament and move them on to regionals.
The Otters are led in conference-only pitching by #Jessica Boyle# (1.81 ERA, 3-4), #Angela Cabral# (2.59, 10-5), and #Noemi Torres# (2.70, 5-4). As they face Humboldt this week the Jacks will have to face the strong arms once again of Boyle and Cabral, both of whom have pitched one shutout each against HSU.
Behind the plate the Otters are led by the strong bats of #Homa Shafii# (.327), #Megan Luna# (.324), and #Shae Olds# (.288). While no Otters are in the top 10 on the CCAA charts with batting average many appear elsewhere. Shafii is ninth with hits (56) and second with triples (3), Luna is second in sac bunts (10), and #Casey Kaufman# is second in stolen bases (21). This week the Otters will look to the strong bat of #Ashlee Trotter# who has batted .350 overall against the Jacks with 7 hits.
Don't miss out on the action as the Otters play Humboldt State in round 1 of the CCAA Softball Championships this Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in Arcata, Calif. Live stats of the game are available here. For complete tournament coverage please click here.
[VIEW REGIONAL POLL] [VIEW CSUMB'S CCAA-ONLY STATISTICS] [VIEW CCAA OVERALL STATISTICS]
[CCAA SOFTBALL TROUNAMENT CENTRAL]
