FULL WEST REGIONAL NOTEBOOK IN PDF FORMAT


SEASIDE, Calif. -- The No. 7 Cal State Monterey Bay softball team will begin its fourth journey to NCAA Bracketville this week when it hosts an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history. The Otters, the No. 2 seed the in West Region, will host one of two west “subregionals” beginning Friday afternoon (May 2) at the Otter Sports Complex. The double elimination tournament will run through Sunday.

CSUMB (45–12) will open against No. 7 seed Montana State–Billings (32–16) at 2:30 p.m. No. 3 seed Dixie State (36–11) will square off with No. 6 seed and defending NCAA Champion UC San Diego (35–19) in Friday's first game at noon.


NCAA DIVISION II WEST REGIONAL II SCHEDULE

Friday, May 4
Noon - GAME #1 No. 6 UC San Diego (35–19) vs. No. 3 Dixie State (36–11)
2:30 p.m. - GAME #2 No. 7 Montana State–Billings (32–16) vs. No. 2 Cal State Monterey Bay (45–12) 

Saturday, May 5
11:00 a.m. - GAME #3 Winner Game #1 vs. Winner Game #2
11:30 a.m. - GAME #4 Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2 (loser eliminated)
2:00 p.m. - GAME #5 Loser Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4 (loser eliminated)

Sunday, May 16
Noon - GAME #6 Winner Game #3 vs. Winner Game #5
2:30 p.m. - GAME #7 Repeat Game #6 (if necessary)

CREDENTIALS AND MEDIA INFORMATION: Please contact Kevin Gilmore of the CSUMB media relations office for credentials and general media information regarding the NCAA Division II West Regional II Tournament.
Office: (831) 582–3118  •  E–mail: kgilmore@csumb.edu

The CSUMB Athletics Media Relations Office will be responsible for conducting postgame press conference at the tournament. Please contact each school's media relations representative for additional availability.

NCAA WEST REGIONAL II TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: Visit Tournament Central at www.OtterAthletics.com (short link: http://bit.ly/Kqnpjz) for the most up–to–date news, results, live stats, video, photo galleries and more from the tournament. Search the hashtag #NCAAatMB for the last tournament news from the Twitterverse.

---

Otter Odds and Ends


OTTERS AT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: CSUMB is making its fourth appearance in NCAA Tournament play. The Otters went 1–6 in their previous two sojourns. Western Oregon (1-9) and Seattle (2-4) took games in 2008. They bowed to Dixie State (6–7) and UC San Diego (1–2) in 2009. In 2010, they opened with an 8–0 win against Hawaii–Hilo before falling to Hawaii Pacific (2–3) and Central Washington (0–2).

OTTERS vs. THE FIELD: From the West Regional II field, CSUMB has seen only No. 24 UC San Diego and owns a 5–1 record against the Tritons this season. Against all eight West Region qualifiers, CSUMB is 15–7. That's the best record of any team in the field.

A WORD ABOUT THE CCAA TOURNAMENT: The Otters barely missed an unprecedented double when they fell in the championship game of the CCAA Tournament last weekend in Stockton. CSUMB was looking to become the first team to win the CCAA regular season championship and tournament championship in the same year. The Otters also fell one game shy of becoming only the second team to win the CCAA Tournament after dropping its opener.

OTTERS ENTER TOURNAMENT RED HOT: The Otters will enter the CCAA Championship Tournament as the hottest team in the West Region, having won 22 of their last 26 games. Included in that span are an 11–3 record against nationally–ranked competition and the 2012 Tournament of Champions crown.

WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES… Freshman 1B Nina Villanueva (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS) ran her hitting streak to 19 games with a single in game one April 18 against Chico State. But it ended in game two. It was the longest streak in the CCAA this season and the second longest in CSUMB history (Shae Olds, 25 in 2009).

…AND THEN ANOTHER DOOR CLOSES… Senior CF Jamie Moon (Torrance HS) saw her 16–game streak end in the CCAA Tournament. Over that 16–game stretch, she hit .538 with 18 runs and 20 RBIs.

…ANOTHER DOOR OPENS: Senior SS Jackie Serna (Corona HS) extended her hitting streak to 18 games by reaching safely in all five games at the CCAA Tournament. During her 18–game run, Serna is hitting a cool .586 with 14 runs, 30 RBIs and an otherworldly 1.595 OPS.

DRIVING HER POINT HOME: Nina Villanueva finds herself on the cusp of setting the CCAA single–season RBI record, fittingly enough, at the NCAA Tournament. After besting the CSUMB mark set by Shae Olds (44 in 2009) she's added 24 more RBIs (giving her 68) and a solid shot at the CCAA record of 69 set by Humboldt's Natalie Galletly in 2007.

HARDLY A ONE–WOMEN SHOW: Nina Villanueva may be closest to the record, but Jackie Serna is threatening to do the equivalent of Buzz Aldrin pushing Neil Armstrong out of the way to get there first. With a tournament record 11 RBIs at the CCAA Championship Tournament last weekend, Serna raised her season total to 65 RBIs.

REWRITING RECORDS: The Otters have done quite a major overhaul to their record book this season. Not including calculated records (e.g. batting average, ERA), which may rise or fall by season's end, CSUMB has already broken or tied 35 school records this season. That includes 11 single game records, 18 season records and 15 career marks. See below for the complete list of records set to date in 2012.

RECORD WATCH: In addition to the records already broken, several more Otter marks may fall before the dust settles on the 2012 season. The most significant of those standards are:

RECORD CHALLENGER(S) CURRENT RECORD
Home Runs, Season (Player): Nina Villanueva, 15 Shae Olds, 15 (2009)
At Bats, Season (Player):  Angelina Orozco, 201 Ashlee Trotter, 202 (2009)
Hits, Season (Team): 492 (2012) 517 (2009)
Total Bases (Team): 752 (2012) 788 (2009)
Sacrifices (Team): 64 (2012) 64 (2007 and 2008)
Complete Games (Team): 32 (2012) 33 (2008)
Hits, Career: Jamie Moon, 223 Ashlee Trotter, 239
Sacrifice Flies, Career: Jackie Serna, 10 Ashlee Trotter, 11

BROKEN RECORDS: In addition to the aforementioned records which may fall, here's a list of Otter records set in 2012. “*” Indicates tied previous mark

*Runs, Game (Player): 4, Angelina Orozco vs. Humboldt State (Mar. 11)
*Doubles, Game (Player): 2 (7 times) last by Alyssa Rivera vs. San Francisco State (April 14)
Triples, Game (Player): 2, Angelina Orozco vs. Humboldt State (Mar. 11)
*Total Bases (Player): 9, Nina Villanueva at Cal State Stanislaus (April 7)
*Hit By Pitch, Game (Player): 2, Danielle Onken at Cal State Stanislaus (April 7)
Sacrifices, Game (Player): 2, (4 times) last by Nicole Pires vs. San Francisco State (April 14)
*Putouts, Game (Player): 18, Nina Villanueva vs. Chico State (Mar. 23)
Assists, Game (Player): 9, Jackie Serna vs. Chico State (Mar. 23)
*Runs, Game (Team): 15 vs. San Francisco State (April 14); vs. Cal State Stanislaus (April 7); vs. Simon Fraser Univ. (Feb. 10)
*RBIs, Game (Team): 15 vs. San Francisco State (April 14); vs. Cal State Stanislaus (April 7)
*Triples, Game (Team): 3 vs. Cal State San Bernardino (Feb. 24)
Hits, Season Player: 73, Nina Villanueva (also, Jamie Moon, 72)
Runs, Season (Player): 56, Angelina Orozco & Nina Villanueva (also 50, Jackie Serna, 49, Jamie Moon)
Doubles, Season (Player): 21, Jamie Moon
Triples, Season (Player): 9, Angelina Orozco (also 7, Cori Reinhardt)
*Home Runs, Season (Player): 15, Nina Villanueva — Shae Olds in 2009
RBIs, Season (Player): 68, Nina Villanueva (also 65, Jackie Serna; 47, Jamie Moon)
*Total Bases, Season (Player): 134, Nina Villanueva
Walks, Season (Player): 42, Jackie Serna
Sac, Flies, Season (Player): 8, Jackie Serna
Sacrifices, Season (Player): 17, Skyler Valdivia
Wins, Season (Player): 23, Cori Reinhardt
Saves, Season (Player): 4, Cori Reinhardt
Runs, Season (Team): 361
Triples, Season (Team): 26 — breaks CCAA record of 23 by Cal State Bakersfield in 2006
RBIs, Season (Team): 332
Walks, Season (Team): 195
Wins, Season (Team): 45
Fewest Losses, Season: 12 — CSUMB can finish with no more than 16 losses. Record low is 20 losses in 2010
Runs, Career: 152, Jamie Moon (also 103, Angelina Orozco)
Doubles, Career: 57, Jamie Moon
Triples, Career: 15, Angelina Orozco (also 7, Cori Reinhardt)
Hit By Pitch, Career: 15, Jamie Moon & Danielle Onken
*Saves, Career: 4, Cori Reinhardt — Jessica Boyle (2006–09)

DOUBLING THEIR PLEASURE: The Otters turned four double plays at the CCAA Tournament and now lead all of NCAA Division II play with 34 DPs turned this season. The 34 total double plays this season break the school record of 25 turned in 2008.

TRIPLING THEIR PLEASURE: The Otters added one triple to their larder last weekend to give them 26 triples so far in 2012. That easily eclipses the previous record of 11 triples set twice previously (in 2006 and 2010) and ranks No. 3 nationally. Individually, Angelina Orozco (Clovis East HS) began the week ranked No. 3 nationally in total triples with 9. Her total ranks No. 1 in the CSUMB single–season record book as well.

OTHERS AMONG THE LEADERS: The Otters are well represented in the latest NCAA Division II stat rankings. Just listing players in the top 20 in addition to Orozco, Jackie Serna (Corona HS) leads the nation with 8 sac flies and is No. 6 in BB/game (0.74). Nina Villanueva is No. 14 in RBIs/game (1.19) while Serna is No. 19 (1.14); Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly HS) is No. 11 in triples (7) and No. 10 in batting average (.467); and Skyler Valdivia (Beaumont HS) is No. 17 in sacrifices/game (0.30). In addition to its spots in triples and double plays, CSUMB ranks No. 18 scoring (6.33 runs per game) No. 19 in win pct. (.789), No. 22 in average (.328) and No. 21 in slugging pct. (.501).

HAVE MERCY: The Otters defeated San Francisco State via the 8–run rule on April 14, marking the ninth time 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.

FIRST TO 40: Already owning the CSUMB all–sports record for wins in a season (38), the Otter softball became the first to win 40 in one season (45 and counting).

ANOTHER BANNER SEASON: By winning a share of the CCAA regular season title, the Otter softball team joins the Otter men's golf team as the first to win multiple conference championships at the NCAA level. CSUMB also won the 2010 CCAA Softball title. For the record, men's golf won titles in 2010 and 2011.

ALL–CCAA HONORS: Cori Reinhardt led five Otters earning All–CCAA recognition by being named the CCAA's Freshman of the Year. Reinhardt, Jackie Serna and Jamie Moon each earned first team recognition while Nina Villanueva and Angelina Orozco were named to the second team.

ALL–CCAA TOURNAMENT: CSUMB also placed five players on the CCAA Championship All–Tournament team: Jamie Moon, Angelina Orozco, Cori Reinhardt, Jackie Serna and Nina Villanueva.

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES: With awards season just getting started, the Otters will be looking to add to an already impressive trophy case for the 2012 season. Here is a look at the in–season recognition the Otters earned:

PLAYER HONORS 
All–Tournament 
Best In The West Invitational: Jamie Moon, Cori Reinhardt 
Desert Stinger Classic: Jackie Serna, Nina Villanueva 
Tournament of Champions: Jamie Moon, Nina Villanueva (MVP), Caitlin Wallace 

NFCA National Player of the Week
Cori Reinhardt (Mar. 23)

CCAA Player of the Week
Cori Reinhardt (Mar. 18)
Nina Villanueva (April 1)
Jackie Serna (April 15)
Jamie Moon (April 22)

TEAM HONORS
2012 CCAA Co–Champions
2012 Tournament of Champions — Champions
2012 Best In The West Invitational — 2nd Place
2012 Desert Stinger Classic — 3rd Place