BOX SCORE 1 | BOX SCORE 2

SEASIDE, Calif. — Pitching figured to take center stage in Friday's CCAA softball showdown between Cal State Monterey Bay and Sonoma State, and the hurlers didn't disappoint as the Otters and Seawolves split a pair of pitching gems at the Otter Sports Complex.

CSUMB took the opener 3–0 behind a 4–hit shutout by sophomore Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly), her fifth of the season. In the nightcap, Sonoma freshman Amanda Llerena shook off a pair of solo shots by the Otters and fanned 10 batters to post a 3–2 victory and earn a share of the spoils for her side.

Reinhardt starred all the way around for the Otters. Not only did she win the duel of All–Americans by beating Samantha Lipperd in Game 1, she also finished the afternoon 3–for–6 with her fourth home run of the season thrown in for good measure. The homer, a solo shot in the first inning of Game 2, represented her 50th RBI of 2013, making her just the fourth player in CSUMB history to reach that mark in a single season.

She was even more dominant in the circle. In Game 1, she allowed just four hits—two of them infield singles—and did not allow a runner to reach second base while retiring 18 of the final 20 batters she faced. For good measure, she came on in Game 2 to toss two innings of 1–hit, shutout relief.

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The Otter manufactured the only run they would need in the first inning of the opener, parlaying a leadoff walk by Angelina Orozco (Clovis East HS), a Reinhardt single and a wild pitch into a quick 1–0 lead.

Reinhardt got things going in the fifth by legging out a high chopper back to the circle with two outs. From that innocuous beginning, Lauren Ermitano's (Hayward/Ohlone College) 5–pitch walk set the table for Bianca Noriega (Ventura/Camarillo HS), who drove the first pitch she saw up the middle to drive in the first insurance run.

The Otters added a superfluous marker in the sixth when senior shortstop Theresa Torres (San Jose CC) led off with her first collegiate double and came around to score on a pinch–hit two–bagger from Kendall Gill (Wilton/UCSB).

After Reinhardt's blast staked the Otters to a 1–0 lead in the nightcap, Llerena and Otter freshman Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS) settled in for a battle between to of the top strikeout pitchers in the CCAA. Clarkson managed to keep Sonoma off the board until the fourth inning when Ancia Purdy led off with a chopper to short, beat the throw, then motored around to second base for a rare infield double. Clarkson coaxed fly ball outs from Danielle D'Eccliss and Vanessa Currie, but Ali Palermo cashed in Purdy with a 2–out single up the middle.

The Otters came right back to tie on Ermitano's fifth homer of the season in the bottom of the fourth before Sonoma played some long ball of its own for the win. D'Eccliss led off the sixth by bouncing a seeing–eye single up the middle. Currie then worked the count full before driving her fourth home run of the season to deep left field.

The Otters had one final chance to tie in the seventh when Nicole Pires (Ontario/Colony HS) led off with a line drive single down the left field line. Valerie Valdez (Rosamond HS) came on to pinch run and moved to second on a one–out bunt by Vanessa Avila (Dana Point/Santiago Canyon HS). Orozco followed by working a full–count walk on which Valdez stole third on ball four.

Gill came in to pinch hit for Skyler Valdivia (Beaumont HS) with two outs but hit a foul popup to left field on the first pitch to end the threat and the game.