BOX SCORE

STOCKTON, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay softball team worked hard all season to earn its well–deserved No. 6 national ranking. But that was in the regular season.

The young Otter squad learned a tough lesson about postseason play in its opening round game of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament Friday night, falling to a late rally by No. 19 Chico State, 6–3, at Arnaiz Stadium.

CSUMB (42–11 overall) will play No. 9 ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills (41–12) in an elimination game Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Chico State (35–14) advances to meet UC San Diego, a surprise 1–0 winner over Dominguez Hills in Friday's opening game.

For all of its heady offensive numbers this season, only senior Jamie Moon (Torrance HS) and junior Angelina Orozco (Clovis East HS) had ever seen a CCAA postseason pitch for CSUMB entering Friday's game. And that inexperience showed against a Chico team featuring 11 seniors. While the Otters did get several solid offensive performances, they stranded 11 runners on base—leaving the bases loaded twice—letting Chico starter Sam Baker escape with a shaky performance.

More than missed opportunities at the plate, the Otters were unsettled with the leather. CSUMB made three errors and left several other plays in the field that could have squelched rallies.

Freshman pitcher Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly HS) was solid for six–plus innings. She left one pitch over the plate in the second inning which Chico catcher Hailey Stockman drove out to right field, but allowed just one unearned run aside from that.

With the Otters trailing 2–0 in the bottom of the fifth, leadoff singles by Nina Villanueva (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS) and Reinhardt set the table for senior shortstop Jackie Serna (Corona HS), who drilled a 1–2 offering from Baker to deep left center to give the Otters a 3–2 lead. 

After Reinhardt pitched a quiet sixth, the Wildcats got their leadoff runner on in the seventh before Reinhardt fanned Bianca Lopez for the first out. A walk and an RBI single by Stockman tied the game at 3–3, but Reinhardt induced Rachel Failla to pop to Villanueva for the second out. She looked to be out of the inning when a soft liner by Emily McEnaney found Alyssa Rivera's diving glove. But Rivera couldn't hold on as she hit the ground, opening the door for three more runs to score.

Walks by Reinhardt and Serna to open the CSUMB seventh brought the tying run to the plate three times. But Baker bore down and fanned the next three batters to secure the upset for Chico State.

In addition to Serna's big home run, the Otters got a 3–for–4 night from Villanueva and a 2–for–3 effort at the plate from Reinhardt.