Here's a view Angelina Orozco and her CSUMB teammates haven't had since Mar. 2: the Otter Sports Complex during a CCAA game.
SEASIDE, Calif. — The Cal State Monterey Bay softball team will play its final regular season road games this weekend when it heads to San Francisco State for a four–game series vs. the Gators Apr. 12–13. The teams will play a pair of doubleheaders beginning at 1 p.m. on the 12th and 11 a.m. on the 13th.
CSUMB (24–19, 12–12 CCAA) is coming off a 3–3 performance at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions at which the Otters won their first three games before falling in three straight to bow from the field.
More important than the tournament results, however, are the final 12 conferences games the Otters will play over the next three weeks. They enter this weekend's series at SFSU in fifth place, four games behind Chico State and UC San Diego for third and fourth place and the final two CCAA Tournament spots.
SFSU (15–25, 7–17) enters the week five games behind the Otters but did post a 9–1 win when the teams met at the Best in the West Tournament on Feb. 2.
After playing the Gators, the Otters will return home to host Cal State Dominguez Hills (Apr. 19–20) and Sonoma State (Apr. 26–27) in their final regular season games.
OTTER SOFTBALL ODDS & ENDS
ALL–TOURNAMENT TEAM: Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly) earned all–tournament honors at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions last week. It's her second such award this season. She hit .412 with three doubles and a home run while posting a 1.97 ERA in the circle. Earlier this season, she earned all–tournament at the Best in the West Invitational.
REINHARDT EXTENDS RECORD: P/INF
Cori Reinhardt's (Riverside Poly) hot start has shattered yet another record. She begins this week having reached safely in 44 consecutive games (including all 43 this season). She broke the CSUMB record of 34 games set by
Shae Olds in 2009. Reinhardt's streak is the longest in the CCAA this season. The conference doesn't compile this record to know where it would stand in CCAA history. Reinhardt saw her 15–game hitting streak, the longest at CSUMB this season, snapped in the Otters' tournament finale vs. Hawaii Pacific.
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 141 runs. She leads the teams with 36 runs this season and needs 14 more to break
Jamie Moon's mark of 154 set from 2009–12.
Senior RF
Skyler Valdivia (Beaumont HS) became just the third Otter to surpass 100 runs last weekend and enters this weekend with 105 runs.
THE 200 CLUB: Angelina Orozco joined an exclusive club over the weekend, becoming just the third player in Otter history to collect 200 hits (201).
Ashlee Trotter holds the record with 239 hits and
Jamie Moon ranks No. 2 with 225 hits.
STRIKING OUT FOR THE CENTURY MARK: Both
Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS) and
Cori Reinhardt are both closing in on the 100–strikeout mark for the 2013 season. Clarkson enters the week with 97 Ks while Reinhardt has 93. 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.
For the record, Clarkson's 97 Ks rank No. 7 on the CSUMB list while Reinhardt's 93 rank No. 8. Jessica Boyle set the Otter single–season record with 146 strikeouts in 1997. With 197 career punchouts, Reinhardt is three away from joining 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 21–of–21 in stolen base attempts this season. Orozco enters the week with 11 steals while Valdivia has 10. The totals are career highs for both players.
FEELING STRANDED: The Otter loss to Hawaii Pacific wasn't for lack of opportunity. CSUMB left a school–record 15 runners on base in the loss — and had two others thrown out on the base paths.
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 43 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).
