FULL TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS NOTEBOOK IN PDF FORMAT




Friday, March 30:  vs. Hawaii Pacific (1:15 pm); vs. Northwest Nazarene (3:45 pm); vs. Grand Canyon (8 pm)
Saturday, March 31:  vs. Hawaii–Hilo (1:15 pm); vs. Central Washington (5:45 pm)
Sunday, April 1:  Bracket Play (TBD)



SEASIDE, Calif. -- The No. 19 Cal State Monterey Bay softball team will take a break from conference action—but not a break from key west region action—when it heads to Turlock for the annual Tournament of Champions Presented By Mizuno March 30 through April 1 at Pedretti Park. While the first official NCAA Regional rankings won't be released until mid–April, the results of this weekend promise to have a major impact on that list.

“The Tournament of Champions is one of the premier in–season events in NCAA Division II softball,” says CSUMB Head Coach Andrea Kenney. “Coach (Jan) Schefkowitz and her crew always put on a first class event and we know that if we do well this weekend we will put ourselves in position to play into May.”

CSUMB (23–7, 15–5 CCAA) went 4–2 at last season's TOC, including a win over then No. 22 Hawaii Pacific. Then freshman 3B Danielle Onken (Oakdale HS) went 8–for–16 to lead the Otter offense. Then sophomore OF Angelina Orozco (Clovis East HS) added a double, a triple and a team–high six RBIs.

The Otters enter the week hitting .331 as a team, with freshman P/2B Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly HS) continuing to lead the way at .471. Fellow freshman 1B Nina Villanueva (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS) follows at .447 along with a team–high 38 RBIs. Villanueva shares the team home run lead with senior SS Jackie Serna (Corona HS) at 7.

In the circle, Reinhardt owns more than half (12) of the 23 Otter wins and leads the team with a 1.55 ERA. Sophomore Kylie Linnane (Salinas/Notre Dame HS) is 8–2 with a 2.40 ERA. Seniors Caitlin Wallace (Beaverton, Ore./Southridge HS) and Jessica Moon (Torrance HS) own the others with 2 and 1 victories respectively.

Following the TOC, the Otters will return home to host Hawaii–Hilo in a nonconference doubleheader Tuesday (Apr. 3) before heading back to Turlock to face Cal State Stanislaus in a four–game set April 6–7.

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Otter Softball Odds & Ends


DOUBLING THEIR PLEASURE: The Otters turned a pair of double plays in last weekend's split with No. 6 Chico to take over the top spot in the NCAA Division II national stats at 0.63 per game. The Otters have already turned 19 double plays this season. The school record is 25 turned in 2008.

TRIPLING THEIR PLEASURE: Angelina Orozco hit her fifth triple of the season to give CSUMB 14 triples so far in 2012. That easily eclipses the previous record of 11 triples set twice previously (in 2006 and 2010). Individually, Cori Reinhardt (6) and Orozco (5) rank 1st and 4th respectively nationally in total triples. Their totals rank 1–2 in the CSUMB single–season record book as well.

DRIVING HER POINT HOME: Nina Villanueva has already driven home 38 runs this season, good for the No. 9 spot on the CSUMB single–season list. She needs just five more RBIs to break the record (44) set by Shea Olds in 2009.

HAVE MERCY: The Otters won two more games via the 8–run rule in their sweep of Humboldt State, marking the sixth and seventh times this season they've done that—already the third most in a season in school history. The 2009 and 2010 Otters each posted 10 run–rule wins.

BEST…START…EVER: At 23–7, the Otters are off to their best start ever. Their previous best start after 30 games was 20–10 by the 2010 Otters.