Stacey Campos - 2013 Softball Notebook Graphic

Vernon McKnight

Otters (Finally) Return Home To Begin 8-Game Stand

April 15, 2013 | By: By Kevin Gilmore

The Otters will begin their finial push to earn a postseason bid this weekend when they host Cal State Dominguez Hills for four games April 19-20.

Final postseason push begins with Friday doubleheader vs. Dominguez Hills

CLICK FOR FULL NOTEBOOK INCLUDING CCAA STATS & STANDINGS

SEASIDE, Calif. — It's been a long time since the Cal State Monterey Bay softball team hosted a CCAA opponent at the Otter Sports Complex (it will have been 48 days by first pitch Friday), but the Otters will finally get that privilege this week when they welcome Cal State Dominguez Hills for a four–game set Friday and Saturday (Apr. 19–20). The teams will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday.

CSUMB (26–21 overall, 14–14 CCAA) will need to make a strong final push as it battles for a spot in the four–team CCAA Tournament. The Otters enter the week two games behind Chico State (16–12) and one game ahead of Dominguez Hills (13–15).

The Toros own a 19-10 lead in the all-time series with CSUMB, including a 4-0 win at the Best in the West Invitational on Feb. 2 in Turllock. The last time the teams met in Seaside, the Otters took 3 of 4 on Mar. 4-5, 2011.

The Otters will conclude their regular season schedule with a four–game set against Sonoma State Apr. 26–27. The CCAA Tournament will take place May 3–5 in Stockton, Calif.

OTTER SOFTBALL ODDS & ENDS

THE STATE OF THE CCAA RACE: There's still much to be decided in the race for the CCAA Tournament. The only thing we know for certain is that Humboldt State has secured one of the four spots with a 23–5 record entering the final fortnight. At 21–7, UC San Diego's magic number for clinching a spot is one against both CSUMB and CSUDH.

Five teams (Sonoma, Chico, CSUMB, CSUDH and San Bernardino) remain alive for the other two spot. Check out the full CCAA standings on Page 2 of the PDF version of this notebook for a complete breakdown.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSUMB will look to take advantage of some home cooking over the next two weeks. The Otters are a solid 12–4 (.750) at the Otter Sports Complex this season. They're 10–10 on the road and 4–7 at neutral sites.

REINHARDT STREAK ENDS: P/INF Cori Reinhardt's (Riverside Poly) finally saw her record streak of reaching base safely end at 44 games last Friday at San Francisco State. She had reached safely in every gave this season prior to that point. Included in that run was a personal–record 15–game hitting streak from Mar. 15 through Apr. 6.

MAKING A RUN AT THE RECORD: Senior CF Angelina Orozco (Clovis East HS) continues to close in on the CSUMB career record for runs, entering the weekend with 142 runs. She leads the teams with 37 runs this season and needs 13 more to break Jamie Moon's mark of 154 set from 2009–12.

THE 200 CLUB: Angelina Orozco joined an exclusive club on Apr. 6, becoming just the third player in Otter history to collect 200 hits (now 207). Ashlee Trotter holds the record with 239 hits and Jamie Moon ranks No. 2 with 225 hits.

STRIKING OUT FOR THE CENTURY MARK: Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS) got there last weekend and now it's Cori Reinhardt's turn. Clarkson became just the sixth pitcher in Otter history to reach the 100 K plateau in a season, fanning seven Gators over the weekend to reach 104 for the season. She has tied Reinhardt's 2012 total for No. 5 in the CSUMB single–season record book.

Reinhardt, meanwhile, enters this week with 96 strikeouts. Should they both reach the century mark, it would be the first time in CSUMB history that two pitchers fanned 100 batters in the same season. With three punchouts at SFSU last week, Reinhardt (200) joins Jessica Boyle (466) and Diane Ortiz (208) as the only Otters with 200 career strikeouts.

PERFECT ON THE PATHS: Angelina Orozco and Skyler Valdivia continue their run of perfection on the base paths, enter the week combined 25–of–25 in stolen base attempts this season. Orozco enters the week with 13 steals while Valdivia has 12. The totals are career highs for both players.

HAVE MERCY: The Otters tied the school record with 10 run–rule wins (leading by eight or more runs after five innings) in 2012. The 2013 Otters already have seven such wins through the first 47 games.

WALK–OFF WINS: The Otters have earned six walk–off wins already this season. Four of them have come via run–rule. The other two were a 3–2, 10–inning win over Hawaii–Hilo (Feb. 11) and an 8–7 win over Cal State Stanislaus (Feb. 15).

GO OTTERS!

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