CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 4, CAL BAPTIST 3
WP - Lindsey CLARKSON (17-2) • LP - Belinda RENNE (20-6) • Sv- None | | TEAMS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | -- | R | H | E | | No. 2 CBU (33-10) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 3 | 3 | 1 | | No. 15 CSUMB (32-5) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | x | -- | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| | TOP PERFORMERS | CSUMB: Alissa Greenhaw (1x2, HR[3], run, 2 RBI); Cori Reinhardt 1x3, 2B).
CBU: Savannah Miller (1x3, 2B, RBI). |
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CAL ST. MONTEREY BAY 1, CHAMINADE UNIV. 0
WP - Lindsey CLARKSON (18-2) • LP - Brett ASPEL (3-17) • Sv- None | | TEAMS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | -- | R | H | E | | CHAMINADE (7-28) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0 | 4 | 0 | | No. 15 CSUMB (33-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -- | 1 | 6 | 0 |
3 runners on, no outs when winning run scored | | TOP PERFORMERS | CSUMB: Courntey Varlea (1x4, GWRBI); Brianne Hollon 1x2, 2B).
CUH: Ciana Russ 1x3, 2B). |
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WATCH COURTNEY VARELA'S GAME-WINNING HIT
TURLOCK, Calif. -- They did it the hard, way, but they did it. The No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay softball team needed a pair of big blasts to run its winning streak to 15 games with two wins Saturday at the Tournament of Champions Presented by the Turlock Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
CSUMB (33-5 overall) opened the day with a huge, come-from-behind, 4-3 victory over No. 2 Cal Baptist thanks to a 2-run blast from junior
Alissa Greenhaw (Galt/Cosumnes River College). Freshman outfielder
Courtney Varela (Harbor City/Torrance HS) provided the dramatics in the nightcap, delivering a walk-off, base-loaded single to the fence in center field in a 1-0 win over Chaminade University.
The constant in both games was the stellar pitching of sophomore
Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS), who earned both victories while running her consecutive scoreless innings streak to 49 2/3 innings. She tossed 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief to beat Cal Baptist before twirling her school-record 10th shutout of 2014 with a 4-hit gem in the nightcap.
The Otters broke through first against Cal Baptist, scoring a pair in the second inning on a 2-out Lancer throwing error. But Cal Baptist came back with three unanswered runs, taking its first lead on an RBI groundout in the fourth.
The Otters didn't wait to respond.
Anneliese Lopez (Ventura/Buena HS) led off the Otter fourth with a sharp single to center. After a pair of outs and a rare balk advanced her to third, Greenhaw drove her team-high third homer of the season to deep left to put CSUMB back on top.
Clarkson did the rest, retiring nine of the final 10 Lancers to shut the door.
The nightcap figured to be a breather for the Otters, but Chaminade (7-28) southpaw Brett Aspel matched Clarkson pitch-for-pitch through six scoreless innings. When Greenhaw opened the bottom of the seventh with a walk, however, Aspel finally blinked.
Nicole Pires (Ontario/Colony) laid down a perfect bunt, forcing Silversword third baseman Kaleen Terayama to try unsuccessfully at a bare-handed pickup. Greenhaw read the play from the start and raced around to third. Chaminade then gave a free pass to
Danica Arterburn (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs HS) to load the bases for Varela.
Varela drove the second pitch she saw to deep center field for what would have been, under different circumstances, a stand-up inside-the-park home run against the drawn-in outfield. But she had to settle for a walk-off single.
CSUMB, a perfect 5-0 in pool play, will open bracket play Sunday against Central Washington at noon. The Otters swept a doubleheader from CWU (19-13) 4-1 and 2-0 Wednesday in Seaside. The winner of that game will face the winner of Chico State/Hawaii Pacific for the bracket championship at 2:30 pm.
Live stats for all Otter games will be available at www.OtterArthletics.com.
Live stats for all Otter games at the tournament will be available on www.OtterAthletics.com.
GO OTTERS!
