BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2

SAN FRANCISCO — The Cal State Monterey Bay softball team saved all its scoring for its final at bats Friday afternoon to earn an agonizing split at San Francisco State. CSUMB dropped the opener 4–3 before rallying for a 2–1 win in the nightcap.

Freshman designated player Bianca Noriega (Ventura/Camarillo HS) drove in the tying runs in the seventh innings of each game. Senior center fielder Angelina Orozco (Clovis East HS) tripled in the go ahead run in the seventh inning of Game 1 before singling and scoring the tying run with one out in the seventh inning of Game 2.

CSUMB (25–20, 13–13 CCAA) got the split thanks to Lauren Ermitano's (Oakland/Ohlone College) 2–out, RBI–double in Game 2 that drove in pinch–runner Skyler Valdivia (Beaumont HS) following Noriega's double. SFSU (16–26, 8–18) spoiled the Otter sweep with heroics of its own when Kylie Grabowski doubled home a run and scored on a throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh in Game 1.

The seventh inning of the opener saw the Otters finally break out of an epic slump in which they went 20 consecutive innings without scoring a run, the second–longest such streak in school history and the longest since they went 18 2/3 inning without scoring in 2007. Things didn't start much better in Game 2 as the they failed to bring a runner home from third base in four of the first five innings.

Actually, that last statistic comes with an asterisk of sorts. Ermitano came up with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth and cleared them with a double to left center. After being pinch run for in the fourth inning, however, she had not been reentered and thus was called out on appeal.

With new life, the Gators jumped ahead in their half of the fifth, scoring on a 2–out Ashley Huff single to take a 1–0 lead.

But the Otters finally broke through with one out in the seventh when Orozco singled and sped around to third on an error by Huff in right. Noriega, pinch–hitting for Valdivia, fouled off a pair of 2–2 pitches and took ball three before hitting her fifth double of the season to left to plate Orozco. Two batters later, Ermitano's shot to the gap in left center gave CSUMB the lead and the game.

Game 2 also featured a solid start from sophomore pitcher Danica Arterburn (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs HS), her first start since a 9–1 win over Holy Names University on Feb. 10. She allowed just one run on five hits in five–plus innings of work. Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS) pitched two innings of shutout relief to earn her 12th win of the season.

Also of note Friday was the end of Cori Reinhardt's (Riverside Poly) CSUMB record 44–game streak of reaching base safely. In fact, since her 15–game hitting streak ended Sunday against Hawaii Pacific, Reinhardt is 0–for–10 at the plate, the longest such drought of her career. She has now gone three starts without a hit for the first time at the collegiate level.

CSUMB and SFSU will conclude their four–game series with a doubleheader Saturday at SFSU. First pitch is scheduled for noon.