BOX SCORE ST. GEORGE, Utah – Sophomore Jeff Owen (Clovis East HS) tossed an absolute gem to lead the top-seeded Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team to its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, an 8-1 win over fifth-seeded Cal State L.A. in an elimination game Friday.
 
The Otters (39-16) will play their second elimination game at 3 p.m. (2 p.m. PST) Saturday. CSUMB will face the loser of the Sonoma State-Grand Canyon game. 
 
Behind a three-hit one-run performance, Owen notched his 12th victory with the first nine-inning complete game of his career.  He fanned six batters and is just two strikeouts shy of being the first Otter to reach 100. 
 
Senior David Garcia (Gilroy/Mission College) went 3-for-5 with a double and home run.  Garcia drove in five runs to become CSUMB's career record holder with 80 RBIs.   Senior Ronnie Fhurong (Hollister/San Benito HS) recorded three hits and two runs.
 
The Otters broke apart a 1-1 tie in the eighth on a RBI double to right field by Garcia that took a dramatic turn due to strong winds after junior Mark Hurley (Hollister/College of San Mateo) had a two-out single.
 
CSUMB pushed six runs across in the ninth to insure the win.  Senior Jesse Olson (Citrus Heights/Sierra College) had a RBI double that scored Tommy George (Elk Grove HS) after he led off with a strikeout but beat out a wild pitch. Fhurong and Haggett hit back-to-back RBI singles to raise the Otter lead to 5-1 after a groundout and fly out.  After Hurley singled, Garcia crushed a three-run homer over the left center wall for his seventh of the season. 
 
CSULA's Brandon Quintero took the loss despite also having a strong postseason outing, giving up only one run on six hits in his first seven innings of action.  He struck out seven batters while walking only one.